Department for Transport

Bus Services: Equality

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure local transport authorities meet their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 in relation to bus services.

Trudy Harrison: Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) are responsible for complying with the obligations under the Equality Act and the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in particular. The Department’s role includes influencing, enabling and encouraging LTAs to provide good bus services for everyone. The guidance to LTAs on developing their Local Transport Plans is being revised and will remind LTAs that they must actively pay regard to the PSED in relation to the provision of bus services.

Roads: Safety

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2022 to Question 120746, on Roads: Safety, on what date his Department received the report on road safety targets commissioned by his Department in conjunction with WSP and Loughborough University.

Trudy Harrison: The final report was received by the Department for Transport on 9th March 2021 and it will be published in due course.

East Coast Main Line: North of England

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what investment he plans to make in the east coast main line to (a) improve capacity and (b) enable more frequent services between the North of England and London.

Wendy Morton: The government published the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands (IRP) in November 2021, which outlined plans for the delivery and phasing of major rail investment in the North and Midlands over the coming decades. The IRP confirmed aspirations to upgrade and improve line speeds on the ECML, and the Department will ask Network Rail to take forward interventions on the route to deliver improved journeys to Leeds and the North East.

Public Transport: Sexual Offences

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department includes a requirement for operators to have robust policies on sexual misconduct in (a) its own policies on rail franchising agreements and (b) its advice to local authorities when letting their own public transport contracts.

Wendy Morton: The rail industry has an established work programme and sexual misconduct is a priority for British Transport Police. Our National Bus Strategy made clear that the highest safety standards will be upheld by the commissioners. Bus Service Improvement Plans should also demonstrate how Local Transport Authorities and bus operators will work together to ensure safety. In addition, taxi licensing authorities are completing reviews of their existing policies and the Department is supporting the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Bill through Parliament. The Department is working closely with the Home Office on the cross-departmental strategy to address Violence Against Women and Girls.

Public Transport: Wi-Fi

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department includes a requirement for operators to block pornography through public WiFi on public transport and prohibit this activity through individual internet connection when letting rail franchising agreements.

Wendy Morton: In July 2018, Andrew Jones MP (former Minister for Rail) wrote to the Rail Delivery Group and urged train operators to sign up to the Friendly WiFi scheme to show they support blocking inappropriate material, including pornography, from being accessed while travelling on the rail network.There are three companies who provide WiFi connectivity for trains, and in July 2019 we received confirmation that all three suppliers are signed up to the Friendly WiFi scheme.There is no requirement for train operators to sign up to the scheme under franchise agreements.

Aviation: Crew

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what support his Department is providing to (a) British Airways and (b) other airlines to help recruit more cabin crew staff.

Robert Courts: Supporting the UK’s aviation workforce is a key priority for the Department for Transport, and this includes supporting airlines to help recruit and retain workers.We launched the Aviation Skills Retention Platform (ASRP) in February 2021 to support the retention of skills within the sector by offering increased visibility of recruitment opportunities. Since its launch, over 100 businesses have registered on the ASRP, including British Airways and 6 other major UK airlines.In addition, we launched Talentview Aviation (TVA) in November 2021, to help employers showcase apprenticeship, traineeship, and graduate vacancies. Both platforms provide airlines with the capability to advertise recruitment opportunities for a range of roles, including cabin crew.In addition, through our Reach for the Sky skills outreach programme, we work with industry and educators to raise the profile of the roles available in the aviation sector, including for cabin crew.

Northwich Station: Disability

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the need to introduce step free access between the platforms at Northwich station.

Wendy Morton: We are in the process of setting the funding envelopes for the next rail control period (2024-29). When further funding is available, any station without an accessible route into the station and to all platforms will be a potential candidate.

Railways: Environment Protection

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to section 53 of the Williams-Shapps Plan for rail, when in 2022 the Department plans to publish its comprehensive environment plan for the railways.

Wendy Morton: The Secretary of State set out in May 2021 the government’s ambitions for Britain’s railways through the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail. This included the commissioning of a comprehensive environment plan, to be delivered in 2022, from Great British Railways. As part of a call for evidence launched by the transition team charged with setting up Great British Railways, the Government set out in December that ‘delivering environmental sustainability’ would be one of the long-term objectives for the rail sector. I look forward to providing further updates on the development of the plan.

Railway Stations: Visual Impairment

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made in implementing the first recommendation of the Rail Accident Report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch into a person struck by a train at Eden Park station on 26 February 2020.

Wendy Morton: The Department has been working closely with Office of Rail and Road, Network Rail and the Rail Safety and Standards Board regarding RAIB’s recommendations to the Department.We expect industry to meet current accessibility requirements whenever it installs, renews or replaces station infrastructure, and under the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail work has started to review standards and how they are better implemented by the industry in the future.

Highway Code: Rural Areas

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what analysis his Department has undertaken on the potential impact of the changes to the Highway Code on single track road users in rural communities regarding (a) the 2m passing distance when overtaking pedestrians walking in the road, (b) the 1.5m road distance when passing cyclists whilst driving under 30mph and (c) giving 2m distance when passing horses or horse drawn vehicles at speeds under 10mph.

Trudy Harrison: The changes introduced to The Highway Code on 29 January are an extension to the previous advice and guidance. They are not expected to pose any major challenges as they simply reinforce the good behaviours that we would expect every road user to adhere to. Rule 163 around safe passing distances and speed limits when overtaking reinforces the Hierarchy of Road Users and the emphasis that those road users who can do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat they may pose to other road users.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy: Small Businesses

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what (a) financial and (b) other steps his Department has taken to support small businesses in (i) Coventry North East constituency and (ii) Coventry to meet rising energy costs.

Greg Hands: The Government’s priority is to ensure costs are managed and supplies of energy are maintained. The Secretary of State is in regular contact with the energy industry and Ofgem to manage the impact of high global gas prices and will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Research: Expenditure

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much and what proportion of its research and development budget did his Department spend in each region of the UK in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.

George Freeman: In the Levelling Up White paper BEIS committed to work to collect data at a regional level for all of its R&D spend.UKRI publish detailed breakdowns of their funding data at a regional level annually, the latest available data is on UKRI's website at https://www.ukri.org/our-work/what-we-have-funded/regional-distribution-of-funding/. In addition, the UKRI Gateway https://gtr.ukri.org/provides data on publicly funded research and innovation which is searchable by year and region.

Research: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2022 to Question 116928, on Innovation and Research: Regional Planning and Development, whether the 40 per cent increase is baselined against spending levels in the financial year (a) 2021-22 or (b) 2020-21.

George Freeman: I refer the Hon. Member to the answers given on 7 February 2022 to Question 116928.

Horizon Europe

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he expects to reach agreement on participation in Horizon Europe; what estimate he has made of the number of current UK based research project bids that are reliant on participation; and what plans he has he made to support those bids should agreement not be reached before their commencement dates.

George Freeman: The UK is committed to and stands ready to formalise our association to Horizon Europe at the earliest opportunity. At the recent EU-UK Specialised Committee the EU confirmed they were unwilling to move on UK association but we continue to push the EU to formalise our association. We recognise that delays by the EU have led to uncertainty for researchers, businesses and innovators based in the UK. To provide reassurance the Government has guaranteed funding for all of the eligible, successful applicants in the first wave of Horizon Europe calls. The guarantee is a short-term measure to support the UK sector while delays to our association continue. The UK Government has stated that it will monitor the situation closely and may consider whether it is appropriate to change the scope of the guarantee, in which case, it will provide updated guidance. The EU have not yet publicly published full results for applications into all parts of Horizon Europe so it is not possible to estimate the number of current UK based bids.

Rosyth Dockyard: Housing

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make a comparative assessment of the provision free accommodation to (a) British and (b) non-British nationals employed at Rosyth Naval Yard.

Lee Rowley: Naval Dockyards are the responsibility of MOD. BEIS has not assessed the provision of free accommodation to British and non-British nationals employed at Rosyth Dockyard.

Space Technology: Solar Events

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what measures in the Government's National Space Strategy will take account of the increased prevalence of coronal mass ejections.

George Freeman: Alongside the National Space Strategy, the government published the Severe Space Weather Preparedness Strategy. A key commitment within the Severe Space Weather Preparedness Strategy is to enhance our understanding of severe space weather, its impacts, and our ability to forecast events such as coronal mass ejections. An increase in coronal mass ejections has been anticipated within the context of the Strategy, which will inform effective mitigation processes and resilience planning against the impacts of space weather to the UK.

Energy: Prices

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether consumers are able to opt out of receiving the £200 upfront discount on energy bills.

Greg Hands: Domestic energy customers in Great Britain will receive a £200 reduction on their bills this Autumn. The Government will provide funding to all suppliers for them to pass on to their domestic energy customers from October 2022. The Department will consult on the detail of the scheme in the spring

Biofuels: Vegetable Oils

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons customers that use hydrotreated vegetable oil for heating and hot water in rural, off-grid homes are not able to benefit from the discounts of up to 80p per litre through government-supported obligation schemes, that are available to customers who use that fuel for vehicles, mobile machinery and aircraft.

Greg Hands: The Government recognises that biofuels such as hydrotreated vegetable oil biodiesel may play a role in future off-gas-grid decarbonisation, particularly for properties that are not suitable for a heat pump. However, further evidence is needed to consider what role these biofuels could play and to develop the policy framework which would support such a role. The forthcoming Biomass Strategy will consider evidence on the likely supply and sustainability of mass feedstocks, including those used to produce biofuels, available to the UK, the total lifecycle emissions for different biomass uses, and the best uses of biomass across the economy to achieve the Government’s net zero target.

Housing: Heating

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the feasibility of installing BioLPG boilers in off-grid homes in relation to (a) the UK’s 6th Carbon Budget and )b) alternative net-zero measures including electric heat-pumps.

Greg Hands: The UK Government recognises that biofuels such as bioLPG may play a role in future off-gas-grid decarbonisation, particularly for properties that are not suitable for a heat pump. However, further evidence is needed to consider what role these biofuels could play and to develop the policy framework which would support such a role. The forthcoming Biomass Strategy will consider evidence on the likely supply and sustainability of biomass feedstocks, including those used to produce biofuels, available to the UK, the total lifecycle emissions for different biomass uses, and the best uses of biomass across the economy to achieve our net zero target. As Building Regulations are an area of devolved competence, it would be for the Welsh Government to consider steps to enable the decarbonisation of off grid homes in Wales.

Carbon Budgets

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to review carbon budgets 3, 4 and 5 following the adoption of a 1.5°C target.

Greg Hands: The Government accepted the Climate Change Committee’s advice on setting the levels of carbon budgets 1-6; and setting a 2050 net zero target. The Climate Change Committee made clear in their advice on the 6th Carbon Budget, published in December 2020, that they do not consider it necessary to re-set the levels of the existing carbon budgets (carbon budgets 4 and 5, covering 2023-27 and 2028-32) in light of the net zero target having been set. The UK over-achieved against the first (2008-12) and second (2013-17) carbon budgets, and the latest projections show that the Government is on track to meet the third (2018-22) carbon budget too. The Government exceeded the required emissions reduction in the first carbon budget by 1.2%, and the second carbon budget by nearly 14%. Taken together, the transitions set out in the Net Zero Strategy for every sector of the UK economy keeps the Government on track for meeting Carbon Budgets 4, 5 and 6, the country’s international commitment under the Paris Agreement (the 2030 Nationally Determined Contribution), and net zero by 2050. The Government will continue to monitor its progress across these areas.

Drax Power Station: Carbon Emissions

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the reduction of CO2 emissions in tonnes as a result of Drax being in receipt of £832 million in direct Government subsidies to biomass in 2020.

Greg Hands: The Renewables Obligation and Contracts for Difference Scheme currently requires that solid biomass used to generate electricity does not exceed a greenhouse gas emission of 200 kg per MWh. Emissions from coal generation in 2020 were equivalent to 997 kg per MWh, so biomass currently delivers at least an 80% greenhouse gas saving over coal.

Housing: Heat Pumps

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many off gas grid homes that applied to join the electrification of heat demonstration project heat pump trial were declined on the grounds of technical reasoning, cost or disruption caused.

Greg Hands: Due to high levels of interest in the Electrification of Heat Demonstration Project, the majority of applicants did not progress through to installation, because they either did not meet the project requirements - including a target of 85% of homes to be on the gas grid - or withdrew from the project. Further findings and data from the project will be published in due course.

Electricity: Meters

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy to ensure electricity tariffs for pre-payment meters are no more costly than tariffs on standard meters.

Greg Hands: Setting tariffs is a decision of suppliers. Supply Licence Conditions, as enforced by the independent energy regulator Ofgem, stipulate payments which must reflect the cost to the supplier. The costs of supplying prepayment meters, compared to standard meters, are higher, due to the different meter requirements and different payment systems. The Energy Price Cap ensures those on prepayment meters pay a fair price for their energy.

Housing: Heat Pumps

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether Government policy on the roll out of heat pumps will not be finalised until the trials of the electrification of heat demonstration project are complete and a full report has been published, including all technical and financial data, to enable time for sufficient scrutiny of the project.

Greg Hands: As set out in the Heat and Buildings Strategy, the Government is taking action now to decarbonise heat in buildings and to stay on track to meet net zero. Extensive evidence suggests that heat pumps are a cost-effective means of decarbonising heat in homes and businesses. The Government will soon launch the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to support the installation of heat pumps. The Electrification of the Heat Demonstration Project will provide further insights into enabling heat pump deployment. Findings and data from the project will be published in due course.

Offshore Industry: Fossil Fuels

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, 9 February 2022, Official Report, col 956, if he will publish the evidence base for that Minister’s statement that continued support for the UK’s oil and gas sector is essential for the UK to achieve its climate change targets.

Greg Hands: Fossil fuel use such as unabated gas-fired electricity generation currently plays an important role in keeping Great Britain’s electricity system secure and stable. This role will decrease in the future as clean energy technologies continue to develop. The Government will introduce a climate compatibility checkpoint to assess whether any future licensing rounds remain in keeping with the UK’s climate goals, including net zero. The North Sea Transition Deal sets out a path for the UK to manage the transition away from fossil fuels, with a goal of achieving a net zero basin by 2050 and achieving a managed energy transition, which leaves no-one behind. The Deal will support workers, businesses, and the supply chain as the UK transitions to a net zero future by harnessing the industry’s existing capabilities, infrastructure, and private investment potential to exploit new and emerging technologies such as hydrogen production, Carbon Capture Usage and Storage and offshore wind, as well as offshore decommissioning.

Natural Gas and Nuclear Power

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including nuclear and gas as taxonomy aligned endeavours in the EU’s Green Taxonomy; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he will take to ensure that plans for the UK taxonomy are robust and lead to effective progress towards a more sustainable world.

Greg Hands: In October 2021, the Government published ‘Greening Finance: A Roadmap to Sustainable Investing’, which set out its approach to economy-wide Sustainability Disclosure Requirements, including reporting against the UK Green Taxonomy. This underlines the Government’s commitment to the taxonomy being science-based, accessible, and built for the UK to support a global transition to net zero. The Government has been working with the Green Technical Advisory Group and the Energy Working Group during the development of draft Technical Screening Criteria to achieve this ambition. As the Prime Minister has stated, the Government intends to consult on the inclusion of nuclear in the draft technical standards for a UK green taxonomy and the development of Technical Screening Criteria is currently ongoing. As set out in the Roadmap, the Government expects to consult on draft Technical Screening Criteria in coming months, ahead of legislating by the end of the year.

District Heating: Rebates

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether district heating customers will be included in the £200 discount available to households.

Greg Hands: The Energy Bills Rebate scheme will see all energy suppliers provide a £200 discount to the electricity bills of over 28 million British households, including customers using district heating to heat their homes.

Natural Gas: Prices

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had discussions with relevant stakeholders on the potential merits of removing the renewables tariff from gas prices in response to rising energy costs.

Greg Hands: The Government has been monitoring the situation and engaging closely with industry and consumer groups since the start of the crisis, to understand the impacts and assess options to help households through this challenging period. Despite the biggest ever renewable auction in November, support via the Contracts for Difference scheme is now expected to only add 22p per annum on the average bill, showing the increasing competitiveness of UK offshore wind. Since the Government has invested in renewables and energy efficiency, UK demand for natural gas has fallen by 26% since 2010. This has helped reduce the country’s exposure to global price volatility.

Minerals: Supply Chains

Duncan Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to protect and improve the UK's rare-earth supply chains.

Greg Hands: The supply chain for critical minerals, including rare earth elements, has been, and will continue to be, supported through a number of Government initiatives. For example, the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution announced £500 million to support the electrification of vehicles and their supply chains, and other strategically important technologies including critical mineral processing, through the Automotive Transformation Fund. Examples of UK rare earth companies attracting government support include Pensana, which is establishing capabilities to process rare earths for sustainable magnet metals at an offshore wind-powered freeport site at Saltend in the Humber, and Less Common Metals in Ellesmere Port, which is an established world-leader in rare earth alloy production. The Government will publish a UK Critical Minerals Strategy in 2022, setting out its approach to securing technology-critical minerals and metals.

Energy

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a UK-wide citizens’ assembly to propose solutions to the current energy crisis, accelerate decarbonisation and transition away from reliance on fossil fuels.

Greg Hands: The British people elected this government to deliver on their priorities which included setting out a pathway for Net Zero by 2050. Further information on our pathway to Net Zero can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/net-zero-strategy

Offshore Industry: Fossil Fuels

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Energy on 9 February 2022, Official Report, col 962, if he will publish the evidence base for the conclusion that new oil and gas extraction in the North Sea will reduce the UK’s dependence on imports.

Greg Hands: The UK Continental Shelf is a mature oil and gas basin, where production is declining. The UK’s domestic demand for these products is also projected to decline, as the UK transitions to cleaner sources of energy, however the UK is expected to remain a net importer of both oil and gas, even if new fields are developed. A faster decline in UK production would result in the UK importing more oil and gas from other countries on a net basis. The Oil and Gas Authority publishes projections of oil and gas production in the UK; these projections (including comparisons with forecasts of demand) are available atwww.ogauthority.co.uk/data-centre/data-downloads-and-publications/production-projections.

Small Modular Reactors: Scotland

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the building of small modular reactors in Scotland.

Greg Hands: The Government has noted the growing local and regional interest in a number of sites for further nuclear development.  The Government welcomes conversations with stakeholders who are considering if their assets are potentially suitable for the deployment of nuclear facilities. I discussed the Scottish Government’s lack of support for new civil nuclear power in my call with Michael Matheson on 13 January.

Rosyth Dockyard

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the provision free accommodation to (a) British and (b) non-British nationals employed at Rosyth Dockyard.

Lee Rowley: BEIS has not assessed the provision of free accommodation to British and non-British nationals employed at Rosyth Dockyard. Accommodation issues are a matter for businesses operating at Rosyth Dockyard to discuss and resolve locally.

Attorney General

Homicide: Prosecutions

Jim Shannon: To ask the Attorney General, how many people have been charged with attempted murder in each of the last three years by age group.

Alex Chalk: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not maintain a central record of the number of people charged with and prosecuted for attempted murder. This information could only be obtained by an examination of CPS case files, which would incur disproportionate cost. While no data is held reporting the number of people prosecuted specifically for attempted murder, the CPS can report the number of defendants where the prosecution was flagged under the ‘homicide’ category at finalisation. The ‘homicide’ category includes offences of murder, manslaughter, causing death by driving dangerously, carelessly or under the influence of alcohol/drugs. The corresponding inchoate offences, such as conspiracy, solicitation, or criminal attempts, are also assigned to this category. It is not possible to separately report prosecution outcomes by the individual offences allocated to this category. The table below shows by age group, the number of prosecutions in which defendants were allocated the ’homicide’ category at finalisation during each of the last three years.  2018-20192019-20202020-202110-1302014-171131037518-2438231530625-5975372458460-6952554370-7918213080+161714Not Provided26812TOTAL COMPLETED PROSECUTIONS1,3601,2451,064Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

Department of Health and Social Care

Alcoholic Drinks: Labelling

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to bring forward its proposed consultation on nutritional information labelling for alcoholic drinks.

Gillian Keegan: The consultation will be launched in due course.

Surgical Mesh Implants: Australia and New Zealand

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implication for his polices of the decision of Boston Scientific to cease marketing urogynecological mesh products in (a) Australia and (b) New Zealand as of 31 December 2021; and will he make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is aware of the decision from Boston Scientific to cease marketing some uro-gynaecological meshes from the Australian and New Zealand market. The MHRA understands this is a commercial decision not related to the safety of the device and is not applicable to the United Kingdom market.

Health Education England: Finance

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what budget his Department has allocated to Health Education England for workforce growth and medical education in the financial year 2022-23.

Edward Argar: Health Education England’s (HEE) budget for 2022/23 will be announced prior to 1 April 2022.Spending plans for individual budgets, including for HEE’s budgets for workforce growth and medical education from 2022/23 to 2024/25, will be subject to a detailed financial planning exercise and finalised in due course.

Hepatitis: Screening

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential role of antenatal screening in eliminating Hepatitis C.

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of routine antenatal screening for Hepatitis C.

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the UK national screening committee on screening pregnant women for Hepatitis C.

Maria Caulfield: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee will be reviewing the evidence on screening pregnant women for hepatitis C in the next year. The review will help to understand whether antenatal screening should form part of the overall strategy to meet the World Health Organization’s target of hepatitis C elimination by 2030.

Hospitals: Admissions

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of (a) hospital capacity limits as of 22 February 2022 and (b) how often hospitals exceed full capacity.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the average waiting time for a bed in hospital A&E wards.

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of waiting times for a bed in hospital A&E wards on essential medical care for patients.

Edward Argar: Hospital capacity data as of 22 February 2022 is not yet available. As of 13 February 2022, NHS England and NHS Improvement advise that in England, there were 5,705 National Health Service hospital beds available each day on average, with overall occupancy of 93.7%. Data on hospitals exceeding full capacity is not collected centrally. Hospitals regularly plan for activity surges and can flexibly increase the number of beds available to meet demand.No estimate has been made on the average waiting time for a bed in hospital accident and emergency (A&E) wards or of the impact of essential medical care. NHS England and NHS Improvement monitors A&E waiting times and the impact on patients. Patients requiring admission to hospital will have essential medical treatment commenced during their A&E care.

Coronavirus: Screening

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the limited provision of free covid-19 testing will be paid for by his Department’s existing budget after 1 April 2022.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will reduce spending in other areas to fund the provision of limited free covid-19 testing after 1 of April.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money his Department has allocated for the provision of limited ongoing free testing for covid-19 after 1 April 2022.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what budgets his Department will reduce in order fund the provision of limited ongoing free testing for covid-19 after 1 April 2022.

Edward Argar: The Government expects to fund the cost of living with COVID-19 from within the Department’s existing budgets. The Department is currently in the process of reviewing its plans and considering how best to reallocate those resources. Detailed spending plans and allocations in 2022/23 will be subject to a financial planning and prioritisation exercise and finalised in due course.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's response to the Health and Social Care Select Committee’s report on Drugs Policy: Medicinal Cannabis, published in September 2019, what steps his Department has taken with the National Institute for Health Research to develop alternative research approaches to support children who are currently receiving cannabis-based products for medicinal use rather than randomised control trials, as set out in that response.

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government response to the Health and Social Care Select Committee’s report on Medicinal Cannabis in September 2019, what plans he has to ensure that the role of guidance from the BPNA relating to medical cannabis is replaced by the recently published guidance by NICE.

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Process Review of 8 August 2019 and the MHRA guidance issued in December 2021, if the Government will fund an alternative study into the potential merits of medical cannabis for children suffering from severe intractable epilepsy.

Maria Caulfield: Research funding can be accessed through applications to the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR relies on researchers submitting high-quality applications and welcomes research proposals to evaluate the safety and clinical efficacy of cannabis-based products for medicinal use. The NIHR and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will consider novel trial designs and it is not a specific requirement to conduct double blind trials. The MHRA has recently published guidance on the use of real-world data in clinical studies to support regulatory decisions.The NIHR and the National Health Service will be supporting two randomised controlled trials into epilepsy. Alternative research approaches, such as an observational study, were considered in the trial design but discounted as it would not produce robust results nor add to the current evidence base.In 2018, NHS England asked the British Paediatric Neurology Association (BPNA) to develop interim guidance for clinicians in the use and prescription of cannabis‐based products for medicinal use in children and young people with epilepsy. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) then published guidelines covering prescribing of cannabis-based medicinal products for people with intractable nausea and vomiting, chronic pain, spasticity and severe treatment-resistant epilepsy. The BPNA has subsequently updated their guidance. As with all decisions to prescribe medicines, the General Medical Council expects doctors to use their professional judgement when deciding to what extent any clinical guidance is relevant.

Hospitals: Restraint Techniques

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish all data his Department holds on the use of restraint on acute child medical wards.

Gillian Keegan: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Medical Records: Ethnic Groups

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Data saves lives White Paper on improving data collection by ethnicity.

Gillian Keegan: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cancer: Asbestos

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to monitor trends in the level of (a) breast cancer caused by shift work and (b) ovarian cancer caused by asbestos.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immunosuppression: Coronavirus

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking the ensure that people with immune deficiency are able to equitably and safely participate in society under the plan for living with covid; and if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of findings of the study led by researchers from the University of Birmingham on the (a) comparatively higher risk of mortality following a covid-19 infection for people with primary and secondary immunodeficiency and (b) response to vaccination of those people.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Screening

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to help prevent people from contracting long covid when asymptomatic testing for covid-19 is no longer available.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Screening

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been recorded as having (a) PCR and (b) lateral flow tests for covid-19 in each of the last three months.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Services: Lancashire

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) accessibility and (b) quality of child and adolescent mental health services in Lancashire.

Gillian Keegan: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immunosuppression: Coronavirus

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the removal of domestic covid-19 restrictions on the health and wellbeing of clinically vulnerable and immunocompromised people.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hepatitis: Pregnancy

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of the number of pregnant women living with Hepatitis C.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Screening

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the cost of each quality-adjusted life year added to 5 to 11 year old children as a result of offering that cohort a covid-19 vaccination.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus Act 2020

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government intends to repeal the Coronavirus Act 2020 in its entirety.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Ivermectin

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the MHRA has not yet decided whether to approve Ivermectin as a treatment for covid-19; and whether the approval process for that treatment differs to that relating to Sotrovimab.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Independent Review

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take in response to the letter to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State from Marie Lyon, Association for Children Damaged By HPT, Kath Sansom, Sling The Mesh, Emma Murphy and Janet Williams, In-Fact, on behalf of people damaged by vaginal mesh, sodium valproate and Primodos on the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review 2020 led by Baroness Cumberlege.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Royal Shrewsbury Hospital: Heart Diseases

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for in-patients in Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to be seen by a cardiology consultant after a referral to a consultant cardiologist by another consultant.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Sickle Cell Diseases

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to implement the recommendations on sickle cell disease care made by the sickle cell all-party Parliamentary group in its report, No One’s Listening, published 15 November 2021.

Maria Caulfield: The Department will work with relevant organisations to consider the recommendations and develop an action plan.

Cancer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to raise awareness across the UK of the five major symptoms of cancer.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England and NHS Improvement’s ‘Help us help you’ campaign has raised awareness of key cancer symptoms. Three new awareness campaigns on cervical screening, prostate cancer and the barriers to patients seeking treatment for symptoms are running in the first quarter of 2022.

Dementia: Research

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it the Government's policy to spend £1.6 billion on dementia research over the next ten years, as mentioned in the 2019 Conservative Party Manifesto.

Maria Caulfield: The Government has committed to invest £375 million in neurodegenerative disease research over the next five years to fund projects into a range of diseases including dementia. We are reviewing ways to increase further research on dementia and will set out our plans on dementia in England for future years in 2022. This will include our ambitions for dementia research and funding.

Department for Education

Children: Communication Skills

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that supporting children’s spoken language development is part of the forthcoming schools White Paper.

Mr Robin Walker: The schools white paper will set out the department’s long-term vision for schools with a focus on achieving world-class numeracy and literacy, of which oral language development is integral. Too many children and young people still move to the next phase of education or employment without the fundamental standards in literacy and numeracy they need to reach their full potential. Too many of these are from the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.We will achieve this by ensuring we have excellent teachers, trained in the very best literacy and numeracy approaches, in all areas of the country. We will support our teachers to deliver high standards for all pupils in every classroom, including supporting behaviour and attendance. This will work alongside targeted support for those furthest behind due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. Underpinning this, we will ensure a stronger school system, with every school able to access the support they need to improve. The schools white paper will consider the links between early years and primary education as critical stages to children’s development in oracy and spoken language.We expect to publish the schools white paper in early 2022.

Education: Communication Skills

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of whether children are behind with their speaking and understanding of language as a result of the covid-19 outbreak; and what support his Department is putting in place to meet those needs.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the level of (a) speaking and (b) understanding language ability of children starting secondary school in September 2021 compared to those who started secondary school in the years before the covid-19 outbreak.

Mr Robin Walker: The department does not have a current assessment of the number of children entering secondary school with speech and language difficulties or delay. We will have updated data on communication and language development later this year.The department commissioned Renaissance Learning and the Education Policy Institute to collect data from a sample of schools to provide a baseline assessment of education lost and catch-up needs for year 3 to 9 pupils in schools in England and to monitor progress over the course of the 2020-21 academic year and the Autumn term 2021. The latest findings from this research, published 29 October 2021, include data from the 2020-21 summer term and a summary of all previous findings. Complete findings from the 2020-21 academic year can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-progress-in-the-2020-to-2021-academic-year-interim-report.Latest evidence suggests that pupils are showing some degree of recovery in reading. By summer 2021, primary pupils were on average around 0.9 months behind in reading and secondary pupils were on average around 1.8 months behind compared to where they would otherwise have been in a typical year. This is an improvement since the second half of the spring term 2021, where primary pupils were 2.3 months behind, and secondary pupils were around 2.6 months behind.That is why the department is investing nearly £5 billion on measures to support further recovery such as the National Tutoring Programme, teacher development, and the recovery premium to support teachers to implement evidence-based interventions to address education gaps. This is in addition to a strong core funding settlement which will see core schools funding rise by £4.7 billion by financial year 2024/25 compared to existing plans.The department is investing in early years education recovery to address concerns around lost education. Improving training for early years practitioners is one of the key levers for driving up quality in early education providers, and language development is key to this. That is why we are investing £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector.This includes £153 million for evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners, including through new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children. It also includes up to £10 million for a second phase of the Early Years Professional Development Programme in academic year 2021/22, targeted to support early years staff to work with disadvantaged children. It also includes up to £17 million for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI). NELI is a proven programme aimed at the reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help children make around three months of additional progress. Two thirds of primary schools have signed up, the majority of these being schools with the highest levels of disadvantage, reaching an estimated 90,000 children.As part of the department’s recovery strategy, we will also be significantly increasing the numbers of qualified level 3 special educational needs coordinators, to support better early identification and support of special educational needs and disabilities.

Literacy: World Book Day

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of World Book Day on literacy rates.

Mr Robin Walker: The government is committed to continuing to raise literacy standards, including those of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. English is fundamental to learning and provides the skills and knowledge pupils need to communicate with others, both in school and in the wider world.The department welcomes the important work of the World Book Day charity, an annual celebration of reading. It is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. World Book Day gifts free £1 vouchers to purchase special £1 editions of books, or to put towards purchasing another book. World Book Day, and other literacy charities such as the National Literacy Trust, organise events and partnerships to help ensure children have the opportunity to discover a love for reading.The department has not undertaken any specific assessment of World Book Day, but note that the charity commissioned the National Literacy Trust to evaluate the impact of the work on children aged 8 to 11 in the UK. The 2021 impact report can be found here: https://www.worldbookday.com/resource/exploring-the-impact-of-world-book-day-on-childrens-reading/.The department’s English Hubs regularly mark the day in several ways, including sharing best practice guidance, promoting reading for pleasure, and organising book talks for children. Ministers from the Department for Education will contribute to the celebrations this year.

Schools: Inspections

Gary Sambrook: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his Department's guidance is on Ofsted inspections for schools that have recently undergone a change of head teacher; and whether those schools are permitted more time following that change to implement reforms before a full inspection is carried out.

Mr Robin Walker: The department has not set conditions on the timings of inspections where there is a change of headteacher, and there are no plans to request that Ofsted defers full inspections in these circumstances. It is important that Ofsted is able to inspect all schools in a timely manner in order to provide independent assurance about the quality of education being provided to pupils, and their safeguarding.During an inspection inspectors will be aware that new leadership is in place and will take account of this in the evaluation of the leadership and management of the school. A change of leadership will be noted in the context section of the school’s report. In addition, where a change of leadership is relevant to what inspectors find on inspection, they will comment on this in the main body of the report.

Schools: Finance

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to protect school funding from the rise in electricity and gas prices.

Mr Robin Walker: We recognise that schools face inflationary pressures, and we continue to monitor the impact of rising utility costs on schools.Cost increases should be seen in the wider context of funding for schools. The government is delivering real terms per pupil increases to school funding with a £4 billion cash increase in the core schools budget next year, taking total funding to £53.8 billion. This includes an additional £1.2 billion for schools in the new schools supplementary grant for the 2022-23 financial year. Overall, this represents a 5% real terms per pupil boost, helping schools meet the pressures we know they are facing.The department pays close attention to the financial health of the sector. We know that the vast majority of school expenditure is devoted to staff costs, with only about a quarter required for non-staff costs, including those related to utility bills. This means that even while costs are rising, inflation in this area would only have an impact on a small portion of a school’s overall budget.All schools can access a range of school resource management (SRM) tools to help them get the best value from their resources to help them save on regular purchases and reduce non-teaching costs. This means schools can more effectively invest their resources into areas that improve educational outcomes for all pupils. Our SRM tools include two recommended deals for energy costs and ancillary services relating to energy, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-a-dfe-approved-framework-for-your-school. We have also launched the new ‘get help with buying for schools’ service, a new national service to help schools realise value for money and savings on non-staff spend, available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buying-for-schools/get-help-with-buying-for-schools.We know that every school’s circumstances are different, and where schools are in serious financial difficulty, they should contact their local authority or the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Schools: Coronavirus

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to allocate additional funding to cover the costs of (a) sickness cover for teachers and (b) sanitation in schools incurred as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Mr Robin Walker: The department recognises that schools are facing pressures. Teachers and school leaders have contributed hugely to the nation’s efforts to respond to the challenges arising from the COVID-19 outbreak, and we are very grateful for their continued hard work.School funding remains a key priority for the department. The government is increasing funding to deliver year on year, real terms per pupil increases to school funding. This is starting with a £7 billion increase in the core schools budget by the financial year 2024-25, compared with the financial year 2021-22, taking total funding to £56.8 billion by 2024-25.Future increases in funding have been frontloaded to rapidly get money to schools. In the financial year 2022-23 alone, core schools funding will increase by £4 billion, compared to 2021-22. This represents a 5% increase in real terms per pupil boost. This will help schools rise to the challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak, increase teacher pay, and meet the cost of the Health and Social Care Levy, while continuing their work to raise attainment.Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, schools have continued to receive core funding, regardless of any periods of reduced attendance. Schools have the flexibility to make their own decisions on how to prioritise their spending to invest in a range of resources and activities that will best support their staff and pupils. Schools will be able to use their existing budgets to help with the costs associated with COVID-19 absences.The department re-introduced the COVID-19 workforce fund in the autumn term to provide financial support to eligible schools and colleges. The fund has been extended until Easter to cover the cost of term-time staff absences experienced between 22 November 2021 and 8 April 2022. The fund is available to support schools and colleges facing the greatest staffing and funding pressures to continue to deliver face-to-face, high-quality education to all pupils.All schools can access a range of school resource management tools to help them get the best value from their resources. Schools in financial difficulty should contact the Education and Skills Funding Agency or their local authority.

Secondary Education: Bradford East

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2022 to Question 120797 on Secondary Education: Regional Planning and Development, what estimate he has made of the amount and proportion of the Government’s (a) additional £4.7 billion by 2024-25 for the core schools budget in England and (b) new package of £1.8 billion over the SR21 period to support education recovery from the covid-19 outbreak that will be allocated directly to schools in Bradford East constituency.

Mr Robin Walker: Schools in Bradford East are attracting £130 million in total in the 2022/23 financial year through the schools national funding formula (NFF), a 3.5% cash increase over the 2021/22 financial year. This represents an increase of 2.6% in per pupil funding. On top of this funding through the NFF, additional funding through the Schools Supplementary Grant will provide extra funding to all schools in Bradford East. The breakdown of this will be published in due course. The indicative 2022/23 financial year schools supplementary grant figure for the Bradford local authority is £13.8 million or £156 per pupil on average.We are only able to confirm NFF funding allocations for the 2022/23 financial year as the NFF is updated annually.We have committed an additional £1.8 billion of recovery funding in the recent Spending Review to support young people to catch up on missed learning, taking overall direct investment in education recovery to almost £5 billion.From this additional funding, a £1 billion recovery premium will continue for a further two academic years, 2022/23 and 2023/24. Primary schools will continue to benefit from an additional circa £145 per eligible pupil, and the amount per eligible pupil in secondary schools is expected to nearly double. In broad terms, this will mean a typical secondary school could attract approximately £70,000 a year.The recovery premium allocations for individual schools in the 2021/22 academic year, including those in East Bradford, have been published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-recovery-premium-funding-allocations. The recovery premium allocations for the 2022/23 academic year will be published in due course.

Education: Communication Skills

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department is providing to children with difficulties in speaking and understanding as part of the roll out of the £1.8 billion Education Recovery Package announced in the Spending Review 2021.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that education recovery includes a focus on speaking and understanding language.

Mr Robin Walker: Overall direct investment announced for education recovery is almost £5 billion. The £1.8 billion provides for over £800 million for extra time for 16–19-year-olds and £1 billion direct funding to schools to extend the recovery premium.The department understands that the early years are the most crucial point of child development. Attending early education lays the foundation for lifelong learning and supports children’s social and emotional development. Therefore, as part of education recovery funding, the department is investing £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector. This includes £153 million for evidence-based professional development for early years practitioners, including through new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children; up to £10 million for a second phase of the Early Years Professional Development Programme in the 2021/22 academic year targeted to support early years staff in settings to work with disadvantaged children; and up to £17 million for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI).NELI is a proven programme aimed at the reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development and is proven to help children make around three months of additional progress. Two thirds of primary schools have signed up, the majority of these being schools with the highest levels of disadvantage, reaching an estimated 90,000 children.Building on the pupil premium, the recovery premium is helping schools to deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery for disadvantaged pupils aged 5-16. In October 2021 as part of the department’s broader spending review settlement the department announced an extension to the recovery premium worth £1 billion for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.Schools are expected to spend this premium on evidence-based approaches to supporting pupils, addressing education recovery related needs of disadvantaged pupils. This can include immediate steps such as assessing and addressing needs once pupils return to class, or longer-term strategic improvement such as improving teaching quality. Also, if schools judge that additional support is needed for speaking and understanding of language is required, they can dedicate resource to this, in the same way that they can for interventions for other parts of the curriculum.In line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s pupil premium guide, activities should include those that support the quality of teaching, such as staff professional development or Speech and Language Therapists; provide targeted academic support, such as tutoring; and tackle non-academic barriers to success in school, such as attendance, behavior, and social and emotional support. Further information on this guide can be found here: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/guidance-for-teachers/using-pupil-premium.

Schools: Ventilation

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many ventilation units have been distributed to schools in the Bradford district as of 18 February 2022.

Mr Robin Walker: To fulfil all eligible applications, up to 9,000 air cleaning units will be provided to state-funded education providers for poorly ventilated teaching spaces where quick fixes to improve ventilation are not possible. As of 24 January 2022, 1,265 providers were eligible to receive air cleaning units. These were allocated to providers based on need, using the eligibility criteria we have set out in our guidance.As of 11 February, 6,311 air cleaning units have been delivered to state-funded education providers, including 39 units that have been delivered to 6 schools in Bradford. Most eligible providers will receive their units by the end of February.Natural ventilation is best where that is achievable, and we have robust evidence that, in the vast majority of cases, teaching spaces and classrooms benefit from sufficient natural ventilation. That evidence includes the responses to our recent survey of providers using the carbon dioxide monitors that we published on 24 January. This showed that only 3% of providers reported sustained high CO2 readings (above 1500ppm) that could not be remedied through quick fixes or remedial building works. The survey findings are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/co2-monitor-survey-and-applications-for-air-cleaning-units.

Finance: Education

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve the financial literacy of school children in Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle.

Mr Robin Walker: Education on financial matters helps to ensure that young people are prepared to manage their money well, make sound financial decisions, and know where to seek further information when needed.Financial education forms part of the citizenship national curriculum which can be taught at all key stages and is compulsory at key stages 3 and 4: https://www.gov.uk/national-curriculum. Financial education ensures that pupils are taught the functions and uses of money, the importance of personal budgeting, money management and managing financial risk. At secondary school, pupils are taught about income and expenditure, credit and debt, insurance, savings and pensions, financial products and services, and how public money is raised and spent.The department has introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum, which provides young people with the knowledge and financial skills to make important financial decisions. In the primary mathematics curriculum, there is a strong emphasis on the essential arithmetic knowledge that pupils should be taught. This knowledge is vital, as a strong grasp of numeracy and numbers will underpin pupils’ ability to manage budgets and money, including, for example, using percentages. There is also some specific content about financial education, such as calculations with money.The secondary mathematics curriculum develops pupils’ understanding and skills in relation to more complex personal finance issues such as calculating loan repayments, interest rates, and compound interest.As with other aspects of the curriculum, schools have flexibility over how they deliver these subjects, so they can develop an integrated approach that is sensitive to the needs and background of their pupils.The Money and Pensions Service published financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England on 11 November 2021, during Talk Money week. The guidance is designed to support school leaders to enhance the financial education currently delivered in their schools to make it memorable and impactful, and is available to view here: https://maps.org.uk/2021/11/11/financial-education-guidance-for-primary-and-secondary-schools-in-england/.The department will continue to work closely with the Money and Pensions Service and other stakeholders such as Her Majesty's Treasury, to consider learning from other sector initiatives and whether there is scope to provide further support for the teaching of financial education in schools.

GCE A-level: Qualifications

Mr Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will ensure that any announcement on the future funding of the provisional list of level 3 qualifications is made to Parliament first.

Alex Burghart: A provisional list of level 3 qualifications that will have public funding approval withdrawn for 16-19 year olds, as they duplicate the content and purpose of wave 1 and 2 T Levels, will be published shortly. We will continue to keep Parliament up to date with our reforms to the qualifications landscape, including at level 3 and level 2 and below, as they progress.

Education: Coronavirus

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he intends to update the dataset entitled Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (a) before 1 April 2022 and (b) on or after 1 April 2022.

Mr Robin Walker: The intention is to continue to publish data whilst collection of attendance data continues via the education settings status form. We have committed to reviewing the education settings status form data collection at Easter. This data collection is used to update the 'Attendance in education and early years settings during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic' official statistics publication, found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.Upcoming releases of this data will be announced on a publication-by-publication basis. The next publication of this data set is due on 8 March 2022. Further dates will be announced in due course at: https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics.

Educational Institutions: Air Conditioning

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) make and (b) model are of the air filtration devices which his Department has (a) supplied and (b) plans to supply directly to schools and other educational establishments for the protection of children and young people against covid-19.

Mr Robin Walker: The air cleaning units being provided by the department are the same make and model as those available via the online marketplace. Further information, including the make and model of the air cleaning units, is available here: https://s107t01-webapp-v2-01.azurewebsites.net/list/air-cleaning. In future, we may review this list, and as more products which meet our specification become available, these will be added.All air cleaning units provided by the department have met an approved technical specification. The department’s technical specification used to assess the units was developed through a rigorous consultation with industry wide experts in both air cleaning and ventilation, from academia, professional bodies and industry, including chartered engineers, scientists, and several government departments. Through this consultation, we have developed a specification specific to education, focusing on key drivers including classroom size, acoustics, clean air delivery and filtration, as well as requiring strong evidence to verify manufacturer's claims.All procurement activity was undertaken with full compliance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015. The procurement of the air cleaning devices was undertaken using the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Framework (RM6157), which can be accessed by central government departments, including the Department for Education, and the wider public sector. We have selected products which meet our specification criteria, to equip education and childcare providers with high quality air cleaning units of a suitable specification.

Educational Institutions: Coronavirus

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the number of unused lateral flow test kits currently in (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) other educational contexts; and if will make a statement.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he has provided to (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) other educational settings on unused lateral flow test kits; and whether he will make a statement.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of unused lateral flow test kit in (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) other educational contexts as of 22 February 2022; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has issued guidance to (a) schools, (b) colleges, and (c) other educational contexts on how to most effectively use remaining stocks of unused lateral flow test kits in those places; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robin Walker: We are moving to a different phase in managing COVID-19, where we learn to live with the virus. From 21 February 2022, staff, children and young people in mainstream education and childcare are no longer asked to test twice per week. Staff, secondary school aged pupils and above in special schools, alternative provision, specialist special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) units within schools and colleges, and open and secure children’s homes, are advised to continue with twice weekly testing.In mainstream education providers with a specialist SEND unit or further education (FE) equivalent, pupils in year 7 and above, and staff within the unit, should continue to be encouraged to test twice per week. These pupils are more likely to be vulnerable and at a higher risk of poor clinical outcomes because of COVID-19. Providers should supply them with test kits from their existing stocks to enable them to do this. The ordering process for SEND and alternative provision will not be changing.Updated guidance on asymptomatic testing for education providers has been published, and requests that mainstream providers that have unused and unopened test kit boxes, should retain these for the time being. This stock of self-test kits is to ensure that mainstream providers can commence outbreak testing quickly, if required. We have consistently communicated that orders should only be placed if stock has run out, so we do not expect providers to have a large stock of test kits. The department continues to work closely with the UK Health Security Agency and will be considering how any remaining test kit stocks should be treated. Further details will be made available in due course.The education ordering channel remains open for providers to obtain test kits if needed, in line with any testing measures agreed by Directors of Public Health or Health Protection Teams, in the event of an outbreak. Providers should not distribute test kits for any staff or pupils who wish to continue regular testing, but advise them to get tests from GOV.UK and local pharmacies.

Coronavirus Workforce Fund for Schools

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he will stop funding (a) universities and (b) colleges through the Coronavirus Workforce Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robin Walker: The COVID-19 workforce fund will provide financial support to eligible schools and colleges for costs incurred due to staff absences from Monday 22 November 2021 until Friday 8 April 2022.The fund is planned to end on 8 April and the claims portal will open in the spring for absence costs incurred across the current duration of the fund.Universities are not in scope to receive funding from the COVID-19 workforce fund.

Ministry of Justice

Marriage: Humanism

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the equity of the administrative costs for humanist marriages; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Pursglove: The Government consulted in 2014 on marriages by non-religious belief organisations. Its summary assessment of costs and benefits was published in the response, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/marriages-by-non-religious-belief-organisations. The Law Commission will also be looking into the impact of the current law on costs incurred by humanist couples. The Government will reconsider this issue on the basis of the Law Commission's recommendations. This report is expected in July 2022.

Parole: Reviews

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress he has made on the root and branch review of the parole system.

Kit Malthouse: We announced in October 2020, that the government would conduct a Root and Branch Review of the Parole System. The overriding aim of the review is to improve public protection and confidence in the system. To that end, the review is looking in particular at the criteria for release and the powers to challenge Parole Board release decisions, as we are exploring how to take an even more precautionary approach to the potential release of high risk and serious offenders. We are also looking at ways to make the system more transparent, and through the recent Victims’ Bill consultation we have sought views on how to further improve the engagement and experience of victims in the parole process. The review will report its findings this spring.

Prisoners' Release: Females

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy of the finding of HM Inspectorate of Prisons report on women’s prisons that remanded and unsentenced women were no longer able to access consistent help with housing.

Victoria Atkins: We know women released from prison face barriers to securing suitable accommodation and that earlier support, whilst they are on remand, to find accommodation can help.Women on remand are supported to meet resettlement needs and prepare for release by Probation staff in prisons. We will supplement existing support from Probation staff with access to specialist accommodation support for all women on remand or sentenced in custody by the summer of this year.In 2021, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) introduced Housing Specialists in twenty prisons whom support prisons and probation in reducing homelessness. This includes working in partnership with HMPPS, Local Authorities, Police and Crime Commissioners and organisations which strengthen accommodation pathways on release from prison. We will increase the number of Housing Specialists to 48 across England and Wales, including across the women’s estate.

Sexual Offences: Victims

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure the justice system is more accessible for victims of sexual assault.

Victoria Atkins: We are determined to make the criminal justice system far more sensitive to the needs of victims, and relentless in pursuing their perpetrators. To meet that aim, we are introducing systematic and cultural change to ensure that victims feel supported through our Rape Review Action Plan; and areRolling out Operation Soteria, a new investigatory model which focuses on the suspect’s, rather than the victim’s, behaviour;Introducing a single source of 24/7 support for victims of rape and sexual violence;When the victim of rape gets to trial, we are giving them the option to pre-record their evidence (Section 28) so they are spared the ordeal of giving evidence under the glare of the courtroom;Increasing funding for victim support services to £185 million by 2024/25; which will increase the number of Independent Sexual and Domestic Violence Advisors we fund to over 1,000;Extending The Rape Support Fund until March 2023, to ensure support services have the funding stability they need to meet demand. Core funding for rape support centres through this fund has increased by 50% this financial year (21/22), from £8m to £12m per annum;Delivering a ground-breaking Victims’ Bill which seeks to; amplify the voices of victims in the justice system, increase transparency of the performance of our criminal justice agencies, increase accountability when victims do not receive the right level of service and, ensure victims receive accessible, professional and well-coordinated services to support their recovery.On track to recruit 20,000 Police Officers by the end of Parliament. We have also recruited 500 new Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) prosecutors and trained 100 Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) specialists.

Prison Officers: Safety

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to strengthen measures to support the safety of on duty prison officers.

Victoria Atkins: Prison staff carry out a vital role in protecting the public and we must do all we can to protect them, and the prisoners within their care. This is why, in the Prisons Strategy White Paper, we have committed to a zero-tolerance approach to the crime and drugs that fuel violence behind bars. We have introduced the Key Worker role to support individual prisoners and identify emerging threats. We are also giving prison officers PAVA synthetic pepper spray, and body-worn video cameras to provide high-quality evidence for prosecutions. In addition, the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 doubled the maximum penalty for those who assault prison officers, including higher maximum penalties for serious offences, and the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will double the maximum penalty again. To support this, a new Crime in Prisons Taskforce will improve the way evidence is collected to increase the rates of successful prosecutions.

Prisoners: Safety

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people are in prison as a place of safety in the (a) women’s and (b) male prison estate.

Victoria Atkins: In January 2021, the Government committed to end the use of prison as a place of safety in the Reforming the Mental Health Act White Paper. There is currently no centralised source of data to record the use of this power. In order to better understand how often and in what circumstances people are sent to prison as a place of safety, we have established a cross-departmental working group. This group will analyse existing data sources to provide a more accurate picture of the use of these powers.

Prisons: Safety

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many adult safeguarding concerns were recorded in HMP and HMP/YOI prison establishments in England and Wales, in each establishment, in (a) 2017 and (b) each subsequent year for which full data exists.

Victoria Atkins: It is essential that safeguarding concerns regarding prisoners are recorded and acted upon. Action needs to be taken at local level, so the information requested is held within establishments. A variety of different systems and processes are used for this purpose. As records are held locally rather than centrally, to gather the information requested it would be necessary to make individual enquiries of every prison establishment, and this could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.

Family Courts: Witnesses

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will conduct a review of the use of expert psychological witnesses in the family courts for the purposes of ensuring credibility, standards and consistency among experts particularly where allegations of domestic abuse have been made.

Tom Pursglove: The Government does not have any plans to conduct a review on the use of expert psychological witnesses in the family courts. Part 25 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 stipulates the requirements and standards determined of all expert witnesses when they and their evidence are put before the family court. This legislation also emphasises the independence of experts and the key role of judicial discretion throughout this process. Section 13 of the Children and Families Act 2014 makes detailed provision in relation to the control of expert evidence, and of expert assessments, in children proceedings, and is underpinned by detailed provision for practice and procedure set out in the Family Procedure Rules 2010 and supporting Practice Directions developed by the Family Procedure Rules Committee (FPRC). The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, established a working group to identify the scale of the problem of medical expert witness shortages in the family courts. A report was published in October 2020 which looked at the causes and possible solutions. In October 2021 the President of the Family Division published a memorandum which seeks to explain the principles applied by the Family Court when it considers whether to authorise or admit expert evidence. This memorandum includes the reminder that experts should only be instructed when to do so is ‘necessary’ to assist the court in resolving issues justly.

Contact Orders: Children

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to record centrally the number of cases in child contact arrangements where (a) allegations of parental alienation have been reported, (b) allegations of both parental alienation and domestic abuse have been reported, (c) who has made the allegations against whom, and (d) the outcome of such cases around child contact arrangements.

Tom Pursglove: Incidences of alleged parental alienation by either parent in relation to family proceedings about child arrangements are not recorded centrally.A new monitoring and reporting mechanism is being piloted by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and the Victim’s Commissioner. This mechanism aims to improve understanding of how private law children cases involving domestic abuse are treated.In addition, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) reports any concerns about alienating behaviours to the court, focusing on the impact on the child’s safety and welfare and in the context of wider family dynamics.

Prisoners' Release: Females

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the proposal by Safe Homes for Women Leaving Prison on providing funding for a bespoke pathway to support women leaving prison into safe and secure accommodation; and if he will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: We know women released from prison face significant barriers to securing accommodation. Our vision is that no one who is subject to probation supervision is released from prison homeless.Women on remand are supported to meet resettlement needs and prepare for release by Probation staff in prisons. We will supplement the existing support from Probation staff with access to specialist accommodation support for all women on remand or sentenced in custody by the summer of this year.We currently provide a Community Accommodation Service (CAS3) in five probation regions and aim to expand this to all regions across England and Wales. This will ensure that there is sufficient temporary accommodation available for women under supervision from probation, who are released from prison at risk of homelessness.In 2021, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) introduced Housing Specialists in twenty prisons, including four women’s prisons namely HMP Styal, Bronzefield, Peterborough and New Hall. The role of these specialists is to support prisons and probation in their strategic response to reducing homelessness. This includes working in partnership internally across HMPPS and externally with Local Authorities, Police and Crime Commissioners and organisations contracted to provide specialist support, to develop or strengthen accommodation pathways on release from prison. We have committed to increase the number of Housing Specialists to 48 across England and Wales, including across the women’s estate.

Members: Correspondence

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of 10 December 2021 from the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South requesting a meeting with a constituent.

James Cartlidge: The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from MPs, either directly or on behalf of their constituents.I apologise to the Hon. member for Houghton and Sunderland South for the delay in responding to her correspondence. I can confirm that a response was sent on Monday 21 February.

Department for International Trade

Gulf Co-operation Council: Overseas Trade

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when her Department plans to publish the response to its consultation, Trade with the Gulf Co-operation Council: call for input.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: Ahead of launching negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Department for International Trade: Staff

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many officials in her Department are working on the ongoing negotiations with the Gulf Co-operation council.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: The Department for International Trade (DIT) had just over 600 ‘full-time equivalent’ staff working directly on trade negotiations in January. DIT operates a ‘flexible resourcing model’ in order to maximise efficiency across our trade negotiations. The number of staff working on a trade deal at any one time will change depending on the stage and scale of the negotiations. Staff often work across multiple negotiations.

Iron and Steel: Exports

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what further steps she will take to increase exports of UK steel.

Mike Freer: The Department for International Trade recently published our refreshed Export Strategy with an action-led 12-point plan. We have introduced a whole new range of support measures to help exporters thrive in the global market, internationalising key trading sectors, and raising the UK’s exporting culture in the long-term.

Trade Promotion: Mongolia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department plans to extend an invitation to Mongolian trade representatives to attend trade exhibitions at which UK exports are showcased.

Mike Freer: As Covid restrictions are being lifted in the UK, Department for International Trade Mongolia is planning for a Mongolian trade delegation to visit the UK in June around Hillhead 2022, the UK’s largest quarrying, construction and recycling exhibition, and to the Mines and Money event in November.

Exports: Mongolia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the current value is of exports from the UK to Mongolia.

Mike Freer: UK exports to Mongolia totalled £342 million in the year ending September 2021.

Overseas Trade: Mongolia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what support her Department has provided to its trade representative in Mongolia.

Mike Freer: The British Embassy in Ulaanbaatar has a DIT trade team of four who promote UK exports and work to address market access barriers. The team is supported by Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner in Istanbul and by DIT trade specialists in the UK and based in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region of which Mongolia is a part, including UK Export Finance experts.Your role Trade Envoy to Mongolia is invaluable in helping UK companies to take advantage of business opportunities in market.

Exports: Mongolia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential for increasing UK exports to Mongolia; and what discussions she has had with UK trade bodies on export potential to Mongolia.

Mike Freer: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade discussed bilateral trade with the Mongolian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in Glasgow on 2 November 2021. However, DIT is not aware of discussions with trade bodies.As the Mongolian economy returns to growth post covid, there are increasing opportunities for UK exports as a result.British companies have had particular success with mining equipment and services, machinery, railway infrastructure equipment and vehicles and there is increasing interest in new areas such as food and beverage and renewable energy.Your role as Trade Envoy to Mongolia is invaluable in helping UK companies to take advantage of these opportunities.

Exports: Mongolia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what financial support the Government provides to UK companies who wish to export to Mongolia.

Mike Freer: The Department for International Trade provides financial support via three measures: Firstly, UK Export Finance (UKEF), is expanding the broad range of insurance, guarantees and loans to better support the needs of UK exporters backed by HMG’s balance sheet of £2 billion risk appetite in Mongolia. Secondly, the Internalisation Fund provides match-funded grants to qualifying companies up to £9,000 on a range of export and internationalism activities. Thirdly, a pilot of the UK Tradeshow Programme will give UK companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, a leg-up to exhibit their products at large tradeshows. Some applicants will receive a grant of up to £4,000 to contribute towards eligible exhibition costs.

UK Export Finance: Mongolia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what proportion of applications for loans from UKEF to support exports to Mongolia are successful; and what interest rate is applied to those loans.

Mike Freer: In the last eight years, UK Export Finance (UKEF) has received three applications for support for UK exports to Mongolia. After applying its regular due diligence process, UKEF found one (i.e. 33%) of these applications eligible and provided support. UKEF does not disclose premium rates for reasons of commercial sensitivity. UKEF has between £1 and £2 billion of market risk appetite available to support exports to Mongolia, and welcomes applications.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans her Department has to send observers to attend the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – Meeting of States Parties due to be held in Vienna in July 2022.

James Cleverly: The Government does not believe the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will bring us closer to a world without nuclear weapons. The UK will not sign the Treaty and will not be sending Observers to the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW. The Government firmly believes that the best way to achieve our collective goal of a world without nuclear weapons is through gradual multilateral disarmament negotiated using a step-by-step approach, under the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Afghanistan: British Nationals Abroad

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2022 to Question 117029, what information her Department has on potential future Qatar sponsored charter flights for UK nationals seeking to leave Afghanistan.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2022 to Question 117029, what support her Department has provided to Qatar to increase the number of future Qatar sponsored charter flights to enable UK nationals to leave Afghanistan.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2022 to Question 117029, how many seats on charter flights have her Department offered to UK nationals seeking to leave Afghanistan; and how many of those seats offered have been taken up.

James Cleverly: We remain grateful to our Qatari Government partners for their generous support in providing a safe route for British Nationals and eligible Afghan dependents to leave Afghanistan. Qatari Government charter flight services are offered to many international passengers who remain in Afghanistan. The allocation of seats is subject to Qatari operational plans and decision-making. Since September 2021, the FCDO has supported 218 British nationals and eligible Afghan dependents to leave Afghanistan on this important route.

Russia: Visits Abroad

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she travelled to Russia on 10 February 2022 on a commercial flight.

James Cleverly: The Foreign Secretary did not travel on a commercial flight to Russia, she flew with the RAF.

Afghanistan: Humanitarian Aid

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2022 to Question 119771, what steps her Department is taking to help accelerate the dispersal of emergency food, healthcare, shelter, water and protection to vulnerable Afghans.

James Cleverly: On 28 January, the Foreign Secretary announced £97 million humanitarian assistance. We are now delivering on the UK's promise to double UK aid to Afghanistan to £286 million in 2021-22. Afghanistan is now the world's most severe food security crisis and UK Aid will provide emergency food assistance for 4.47 million people. We have now disbursed over £176 million to Afghanistan and for Afghan refugees in the region to address the most urgent humanitarian needs. The UK government continues to work closely with the UN and non-governmental organisations (NGO) to ensure that UK aid benefits Afghans in need while meeting our international obligations. We are working with them to assess the changing situation on the ground and assess needs. We deliver through UN agencies and NGOs who have a track record of delivering in challenging circumstances and who are continuing to ensure vital aid reaches those who need it most.The UK also played a key role in pressing for a resolution establishing a humanitarian exception under the UN Afghanistan sanctions regime. On 27 January 2022, the UK government laid legislation to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2615. This will save lives and reduce the impediments faced by humanitarian agencies.

Afghanistan: British Nationals Abroad

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2022 to Question 117029, if she will publish the number of UK nationals her Department has assisted to leave Afghanistan in each week since 1 January 2022.

James Cleverly: We are working with our partners in the region to assist British Nationals and their families to leave Afghanistan. Since September 2021, the FCDO has assisted 218 British nationals and eligible Afghan dependents to leave Afghanistan on Qatari Government charter flights. We continue to keep FCDO Travel Advice updated, and encourage British Nationals to sign up for updates when published. Commercial flights from Afghanistan to regional capitals are available and we encourage people to check safety notices published by the UK civil aviation authority.

Channel Islands: World War II

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to commemorate the deportation of British nationals from the Channel Islands in September 1942 by the German occupation authorities.

James Cleverly: The FCDO has no plans to commemorate the deportation of British nationals from the Channel Islands in September 1942 by the German occupation authorities.

Horn of Africa: Droughts

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa following the severe recent droughts.

Vicky Ford: The UK is deeply concerned by the worsening humanitarian situation in the Horn of Africa. The increasing frequency and severity of droughts across the region is placing millions of people under enormous strain. The UN assesses that ongoing drought will impact 14 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya - many of whom are already facing severe water shortages and worrying levels of food insecurity. In parts of Kenya and Somalia, February harvests may be 70% below average. While 90% of Somalia's districts have been affected, rainfall levels in some is 70% below 40 year averages. Throughout the region, the UN estimates that 5.5 million children will likely experience acute malnutrition, and a further 1.6 million likely to suffer severe acute malnutrition which could have lifelong implications.On 17 January, I announced a £17 million package of emergency humanitarian assistance to address critical needs in Ethiopia (£5 million), South Sudan (£3 million), Somalia (£8 million) and Kenya (£1 million). This support will address the impact of drought in the Horn of Africa, and flooding in South Sudan. On 6 February, the UK's Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs announced an additional £5.5 million of support for Somalia.

Uganda: Police

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of the appointment of Major General Abel Kandiho as chief of joint staff of the Ugandan police force on 8 February 2022 on (a) the prevalence of human rights abuses by Ugandan security services, (b) accountability for those abuses and (c) democracy in that country.

Vicky Ford: The appointment on 8 February of Major General Abel Kandiho as Chief of Joint Staff of the Uganda Police Force is a matter of concern. Kandiho is designated under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act by the United States for serious human rights abuses in his former role as head of Uganda's military intelligence. Our High Commission in Kampala has raised concerns over his appointment with the Government of Uganda.Human rights abuses by members of the security forces have no place in any society and we have repeatedly raised concerns with the Government of Uganda. We have publicly called for transparent and independent investigations to hold to account those responsible. The UK reiterated these calls during Uganda's recent review under the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review Mechanism on 15 January 2022. I was also able to raise our concerns with President Museveni and Foreign Minister Odongo during my visit to Uganda on 19 January 2022. I stressed the importance of upholding their obligations under international human rights law and respecting democratic freedoms. The UK will continue to work with all Ugandans to advocate for democratic freedoms and respect for human rights.I also refer the Honourable Member to the answer of 15 February to question 119467 with regards to the accountability issue and advocating for democracy in Uganda.

Middle East: International Law

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Amnesty International citing human rights abuses against Palestinian civilians, published 1 February 2022, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure international law is upheld in the Middle East.

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made for the implications of her policy of the latest report by Amnesty International on the seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, administrative detention and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians.

Amanda Milling: We do not agree with the use of this terminology. Any judgment on whether serious crimes under international law have occurred is a matter for judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. As a friend of Israel, we have a regular dialogue on human rights. This includes encouraging the Government of Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and do all it can to uphold the values of equality for all. Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories is a human rights priority for the FCDO.

Myanmar: Civil Society

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what financial support her Department is providing to civil society organisations in Myanmar who are collecting evidence of Myanmar military atrocities.

Amanda Milling: The UK continues its work to protect the civic space, the human rights and media freedom of the people of Myanmar since the military coup in February 2021. We have maintained support for human rights organisations across Myanmar, including those focussed on gathering evidence of gender-based violence. We have also provided emergency funding for journalists and media organisations to enable them to continue their important efforts in cataloguing evidence of human rights violations. The UK has provided over £1.5 million on human rights monitoring in the past year, including establishing Myanmar Witness; a human rights monitoring mechanism which collects and verifies open-source information on serious human rights violations and ensures there is a spotlight on the military's actions.

Diarrhoea: Research

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to data published by UNICEF in April 2021 reporting that diarrhoeal diseases cause 18 per cent of all deaths of children under the age of 5 in Nigeria, what steps she is taking to support the funding of research and development into diarrhoeal disease.

Vicky Ford: As rightly highlighted by UNICEF, diarrhoea is one of the leading causes of death among children under five years in Nigeria as well as across the globe. Diarrhoeal disease in children is also a leading cause of malnutrition in children. This is particularly tragic as a significant proportion of these cases are preventable. FCDO recently published an approach paper on ending the preventable deaths of mothers, babies and children which highlights the importance of research and development of novel health technologies including for diarrhoeal disease.FCDO works with product development public-private partnerships, which develop novel health technologies, such as medicines and vaccines where commercial markets fail. This includes support to PATH, an organisation which is developing medicines, diagnostics and vaccines for diarrheal disease. With UK Aid help, PATH have developed two new vaccines for rotavirus (which causes diarrheal disease) suitable for use in low-income countries.

Africa: HIV Infection

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Neglected Disease Research and Development: New Perspectives, published by Policy Cures Research in January 2022, what assessment she has made of the impact of the reduction in her Department's funding for research and development into HIV/Aids from $12 million in 2019 to $5.8 million in 2020 on (a) the number of preventable deaths in Africa and (b) the rate of HIV/Aids transmissions in Africa.

Vicky Ford: The UK Government is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals including ending the HIV, tuberculosis and malaria pandemics by 2030. The UK pledged £1.4 billion in the 6th replenishment (2020-2022) to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, making us the 2nd largest donor towards the 6th replenishment and 3rd largest donor since the Global Fund's creation.FCDO supports research into sexual and reproductive health and rights, including HIV. As such, the UK Government funds the WHO hosted Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction which has led important research on HIV, such as the recent ECHO trial on the link between HIV infection and contraceptive methods. FCDO also funds the International Partnership on Microbicides, a Product Development Partnership which develops innovative technologies, for example the dapivirine ring, the first long-acting HIV prevention product to help address women's unmet need for new methods of HIV-prevention.

Sudan: Demonstrations

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of whether live ammunition was used against protesters in Sudan (a) on 7 February, (b) on other occasions in February 2022, (c) in January 2022, (d) in December 2021, (e) in November 2021, and (f) in October 2021.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of investigations into and accountability for (a) deaths and (b) injuries of protestors following security service action in Sudan since 25 October 2021.

Vicky Ford: We are deeply concerned by the continued violent repression of Sudanese protesters, including reports that live ammunition has been used against them. Over 80 protesters have been killed since the coup on 25 October 2021 and at least some of these deaths are attributable to the use of live ammunition, although we cannot confirm exact dates and numbers. The Sudanese military has committed to investigate the killing and abuse of protesters since the coup and we urge them to deliver this swiftly and in a transparent manner. However, accountability for crimes committed before and after the coup has yet to be delivered and we will continue to push for progress.Our advocacy of a return to Sudan's democratic transition has included calls for ordinary Sudanese to be able to protest without fear of violence, and for accountability for all human rights violations. This includes through statements with the Troika (US/Norway/UK) as well as by the Foreign Secretary and I. We also helped to secure a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in November to maintain scrutiny on the situation. With partners we continue to consider all options to maintain pressure on the Sudanese military to protect human rights, recommit to the democratic transition and deliver people's demands for freedom, peace and justice.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Homicide

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to DR Congo: The Forgotten Bianga Indigenous Massacre, published by Human Rights Watch on 9 February 2022, what steps she is taking to support the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo in (a) investigating and prosecuting crimes related to this alleged massacre, (b) providing health care and psychological support to survivors, and (c) enabling reconciliation and prevention of further conflict between Iyeke and Nkundo people in the Bianga area.

Vicky Ford: We are aware of deeply troubling reports of a massacre of Iyeke people in Tshuapa province and have engaged with Human Rights Watch on the findings of their article. The UK Government is concerned by high levels of violence across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Working through the UN Joint Human Rights Office the UK is helping to monitor and verify reported human rights abuses and provide support to the Government in strengthening judicial processes and tackling impunity. This has included technical and operational assistance to national human rights institutions (such as the National Human Rights Commission) and civil society organisations to enhance their capacity to promote and protect of human rights in the DRC. UK funding to TRIAL International in DRC is also supporting the provision of legal aid to survivors, strengthening pathways to justice and helping to ensure perpetrators are held to account. We will continue to encourage the Government to improve the human rights situation, strengthen early warning mechanisms and uphold legal protections for marginalised communities - including the Iyeke - within the DRC. We will also continue to work with members of the international community to counter hate speech and incitement to violence in DRC.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Conflict Resolution

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February to Question 117760, how much the UK has spent to support efforts to tackle the drivers of conflict, demobilise armed groups and support dialogue and conflict resolution mechanisms between local communities in Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2020-21 and (c) 2019-20; and whether she has plans to expand such work over the coming year.

Vicky Ford: The UK Government is concerned about instability in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including in the Ituri province. I set out the range of efforts we are making to tackle the drivers of conflict, build stability and reduce violence in eastern DRC in Parliamentary Question 117760. Our current bilateral assistance to DRC is £56.3 million, comprising £30.4 million for humanitarian activities, £17.4 million for health and education; £4.8 million for economic development; and £3.7 million for governance and stabilisation. Since 2019, the UK Government has provided approximately £14.2 million in bilateral support to conflict resolution and prevention in DRC (£2.7 million in 2021/22; £3 million in 2020/21 and £8.5 million in 2019/20). In addition, in 2021/22, the UK has contributed approximately £45 million and three military staff officers to the UN Peacekeeping Mission in DRC, MONUSCO. We remain committed to working with the government and people of DRC, and our international partners, to support peace and stability.

Palestinians: Personal Names

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the latest Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and the Palestinian Authority (PA), whether her Department has made representations to representatives of the Palestinian Authority on reports in the official PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on 13 June 2021 celebrating the naming of a Palestinian baby after Adolf Eichmann.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, in the context of the latest Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Palestinian Authority (PA), whether her Department has made representations to representatives of the PA on the broadcasting of songs with lyrics inciting violence on official PA TV News on 3, 10, 11 and 13 July 2021.

Amanda Milling: Our partnership with the Palestinian Authority includes a commitment from the Palestinian leadership to adhere to the principle of non-violence and to tackle any language and actions that could incite violence or hatred. We continue to urge the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships to avoid engaging in, or encouraging, any type of action and language that makes it more difficult to achieve a negotiated solution to the conflict.

Myanmar: Sanctions

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her (a) American, (b) Canadian and (c) other international counterparts on the potential merits of introducing sanctions on the provision of aviation fuel to Myanmar.

Amanda Milling: The UK has been at the forefront of the international sanctions response. Since 1 February 2021, the UK has worked quickly, in coordination with partners, including the US and Canada, to impose targeted sanctions on the junta. We cannot speculate on future designations but we are looking at a range of further targets and measures.The UK is incredibly concerned by the military's use of indiscriminate airstrikes against civilians. On 8 February 2022, we strengthened our Overseas Business Risk guidance to provide specific guidance on exporting aviation related goods, including jet fuel, to Myanmar. The UK take the question of any export of arms or aviation related products to the Myanmar Military very seriously. To support our work in this space, we have established the Myanmar Witness programme, which conducts open source investigations to track and expose those supporting and equipping the military.

Myanmar: Military Attachés

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of potential risks to the Burmese diaspora community in the UK of the presence of the Burmese military attaché Captain Soe Aung in this country.

Amanda Milling: The UK strongly condemns the military coup in Myanmar and the violent crackdown on innocent people. We stand in solidarity with the people of Myanmar, both in Myanmar and the UK.We have not seen any substantiated evidence of risks to the Myanmar community in the UK from the military attaché but would take any allegations very seriously. I would encourage anyone who feels that they are under threat to contact the police in the first instance.

Ministry of Defence

Army

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his timeframe is for the planned warfighting division to meet (a) initial and (b) full operating capability.

James Heappey: The British Army already has a warfighting Division, the 3rd(UK) Divsion, with Challenger 2 and Warrior as its core capabilities. Future Soilder will see this Divsion modernised by 2030 with a variety of new capabilities built around a digitally networked combination of Ajax,Boxer, Challenger 3,AH64E, long range, precesion fires and un-crewed aeriel systems.

Integrated Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy Review

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many programmes have been (a) written off, (b) cancelled or (c) merged with others as a result of the Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper; and if he will provide details of each of those programmes.

Jeremy Quin: On the 21 February we published our annual equipment plan which includes a summary of the changes to the defence programme as a result of the Integrated Review in annex C. Our Annual Report and Accounts, published on 20 January, shows the impact on our financial accounts. For further information I refer the Rt Hon. Gentleman to my response to the Parliamentary Question UIN 114659 answered on the 3 February.Ministry of Defence Assets (docx, 17.2KB)

Military Aircraft: Ministers

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many individual flights have been undertaken by Government ministers and their staff on RAF planes in each of the last three calendar years, and on how many of those occasions did the planes travel at less than 10 per cent of their full passenger capacity.

James Heappey: Figures for the number of individual flights by Government Ministers taken on the RAF's fixed wing passenger aircraft, together with the number of those flights completed at less than 10% passenger capacity are given in the table below:201920202021Number of Ministerial Flights17974128Number at less than 10% capacity846

Dstl

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February 2022 to Question 116930, on Dstl: Newcastle upon Tyne, what the budget of the Science and Technology Experimentation Hub will be; what proportion of the £6.6 billion investment will be spent outside the Greater South East; and who the innovation partners are that that hub will partner with.

Jeremy Quin: The Spending Review 2020 provided a ring fenced £6.6 billion minimum investment in Defence Research and Development for the four years of the settlement. Defence is committed to continue increasing its R&D footprint outside the Greater South East, as explained within the Levelling Up White Paper,. This also forms part of the implementation of the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy. Dstl Newcastle is a new, strategically located S&T Hub specialising in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science. It will allow Dstl to recruit and develop local expertise, and enhance its ability to access skills and expertise within Industry and Academia across the North East. Locally based innovation organisations such as the National Innovation Centre for Data (NICD) and the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), will support Dstl's objectives by enhancing its understanding of the opportunities offered by innovation in data both in the North East and across the country. The Dstl Newcastle Hub does not have a separate budget to that of its parent Division within Dstl; it will provide an additional route by which Dstl will deliver investment in AI and Data Science over the next four years.

War Widows: Pensions

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department has made in relation to war widows pensions since the Minister of State at his Department stated on 10 December 2020 that his Department was examining alternative methods to mitigate the impact on war widows who remarried or cohabited before the introduction of the pensions-for-life changes in 2015.

Leo Docherty: As previously stated by my Rt. hon Friend the Defence Secretary in the House, the Ministry of Defence is examining alternative methods to see whether we can mitigate the impact of these changes, and we have been in regular discussion with the War Widows Association on the matter.

Armed Forces: Musculoskeletal Disorders

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will publish the statistics on the levels of musculoskeletal injuries experienced by (a) male and (b) female members of the British Army as at 22 February 2022.

Leo Docherty: In response to the request, between the dates 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021, 472 per 1,000male (total male cases = 36,631) Regular Army personnel and 569per 1,000 female (total female cases = 4,572) Regular Army personnel had a Read code for a musculoskeletal injury (MSKI) entered into their medical record.

Defence: Research

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of the £6.6 billion committed to research, development and experimentation over the next four years in the Defence Command Paper of 2021 has been committed to future projects.

Jeremy Quin: Supplementary estimates were published on 22 February 2022 which show our current in-year (financial year 21/22) forecast of £1.5 billion on capital research and development.

Armed Forces: Housing

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of the £1.5 billion investment in improving single living accommodation committed to in the Defence Command Paper of 2021 has been spent in the last twelve months.

Jeremy Quin: Relevant information is held by the Front Line Commands. I will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

Black Sea: HMS Trent

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel are deployed on HMS Trent during its voyage to the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea region.

James Heappey: HMS Trent is deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean, as part of the UK's support to allies on NATO's eastern flank.The number of personnel deployed on HMS Trent during this deployment is 52 (as of 23rd February 2022).

Estonia: Army

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which additional regiments will be situated in Estonia as a result of the Government's commitment to double the number of UK armed forces personnel in that country.

James Heappey: The current 'steady state' number of troops in Estonia is 900 from the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR). RTR will remain deployed when 1 Royal Welsh arrives in March. The total numbers during this period will be 1,000.

Queen's Guards: Uniforms

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2021 to Question 85327, on Queen's Guards: Uniforms, when his Department last conducted a procurement exercise for ceremonial caps for use by the Queen's Guard; and whether that exercise invited suppliers to offer faux fur as an alternative to real bearskin.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2021 to Question 87699, on Armed Forces: Uniforms, when his Department last conducted a procurement exercise for the faux fur busby hats worn by the King's Troop; and what requirements his Department has set for the faux fur used in the manufacture of those caps.

Jeremy Quin: The most recent contract for the Queen’s Guards ceremonial caps commenced in August 2018. Suppliers were not invited to offer any alternative options as there are currently no faux fur alternatives that meet the Army’s requirements for these caps. In 2021, a new contract to supply The Kings Troop Busbys was placed. The Busby is a smaller and lighter cap than the Queen’s Guards ceremonial caps. The only requirement for the Busbys made from artificial fabric, is that the material has the appropriate weather resistance needed; for it to not change any of its colour characteristics when exposed to light and water.

Artillery: Procurement

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of the £800 million committed to a new automated mobile fires platform over the next ten years in the Defence Command Paper 2021 has been spent in the last twelve months.

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of the £800 million committed to a new automated mobile fires platform in the next ten years in the Defence Command Paper of 2021 has been committed to future projects.

Jeremy Quin: Around £166K was spent on the Mobile Fires Platform (MFP) project between February 2021 and January 2022. As the MFP project is still in the Concept Phase, the remainder of the £800 million provisioned has yet to be committed to future projects.

Queen's Guards: Uniforms

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that none of the bearskins used to make the ceremonial caps worn by the Queen’s Guard come from bears shot by trophy hunters.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2021 to Question 85327 on Queen's Guards: Uniforms, what steps he is taking to ensure that procurement of ceremonial caps to be worn by the Queen’s Guard complies with the Government's Queen's Speech 2021 commitment that the UK will have and promote the highest standards of animal welfare.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the Member to the answers I provided to Questions 118592 answered on 10 February 2022. Armed Forces Fur (docx, 15.5KB)

NATO

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Government's priorities are for NATO's 2022 strategic concept.

James Heappey: At the June 2021 NATO Summit, leaders agreed to develop an updated Strategic Concept for the Alliance, to be endorsed at the 2022 Summit in Madrid. They agreed that the next Strategic Concept should refresh the Alliance's approach to its three core tasks of collective defence, crisis management and co-operative security. It should also consider the current strategic environment and guide the ongoing adaptation of the Alliance.The last Strategic Concept was agreed in 2010, and is the product of a different global context. The next Strategic Concept needs to reflect the new reality of systemic competition, and its implications for the Euro-Atlantic area, as set out in the 2021 Integrated Review. (The Concept needs to ensure that the Alliance:(i) stays strong and united, focused on keeping our people free and secure, and acting as a pillar for freedom, openness, and the rules-based international order;(ii) continues its modernisation, with a focus on speedy adoption of advanced technologies;(iii) strengthens its political and military tools, and better integrates its activity and capabilities;(iv) continues to develop its resilience, including against hybrid threats;(v) reinforces Allies' enduring commitment to invest 2% of GDP in defence. The UK has locked in a 0.5% above inflation increase to our defence budget and an additional investment of £16.5 million over the next four years).

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the conversion bay class support ship committed to in the Defence Command Paper of 2021 will be delivered.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Armed Forces to the Rt hon. Member for North Durham (Kevan Jones) on 9 December 2021 in response to Question number 87610.Navy; Littoral Warfare (docx, 18.5KB)

Department for Work and Pensions

Industrial Health and Safety: Females

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what work is being done by the Health and Safety Executive towards improving protections for women workers against endocrine-disrupting chemicals; and what analysis has been undertaken on the outcomes of women workers' exposure to such chemicals.

Chloe Smith: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Benefit sanctions statistics to October 2021, for what reason the issue with the availability of software required to process UCFS sanction decisions data was not identified prior to the migration to the new data platform.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Sick Pay

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Prime Minister's remarks during the press conference of 21 February 2022 that the UK could learn from an established culture in Germany of greater discipline in taking time off work when sick, whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on raising Statutory Sick Pay to a level equivalent to that in Germany.

Chloe Smith: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2022 to Question 119672, on Social Security Benefits: Disqualification, in which months the proof of concept is planned to (a) start and (b) finish in 2022; and in what parts of the country it will run.

David Rutley: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Security Benefits: Coronavirus

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to support legacy benefit recipients who have been financially impacted by the covid-19 pandemic.

David Rutley: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new claims for universal credit were processed and paid by her Department within (a) five weeks, (b) six weeks, (c) seven weeks, (d) eight weeks, (e) nine weeks, (f) ten weeks and (g) longer than ten weeks in the most recent 12 months for which data is available.

David Rutley: Due to unforeseen circumstances we are unable to access the data to answer your question in time. I will write to you with a response as soon as possible.

Social Security Benefits: Uprating

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made on the potential effect of not uprating benefits in line with current rates of inflation on levels of child poverty in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency.

David Rutley: No such assessment has been made. The Government is up-rating benefits in line with inflation. The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions with reference to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). All benefit up-rating since April 1987 has been based on the increase in the relevant price inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September. The relevant benefits are increasing by 3.1% from April. The latest statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, covering the six years, 2014/15 to 2019/20, can be found in the annual publication: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab). This Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty. Our approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment – particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.

Social Security Benefits: Compensation

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 14 April 2021 to Question 174995, what level of compensation is paid as a result of errors made by her Department.

David Rutley: DWP has a Discretionary Special Payment scheme, which allows us to award redress for the impacts of DWP errors. As the impact may differ, in accordance with each customer’s circumstances, we consider each case on its own merits. We publish the total amount paid and the number of payments made in DWP’s Annual Report and Accounts. For more details of the scheme, please see the guidance: Financial Redress for Maladministration.

Social Security Benefits

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2022 to Question 119686 on Social Security Benefits, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the benefit cap on poverty levels of households where it is not possible for people to move into work.

David Rutley: No assessment has been made. There is a statutory duty for the Secretary of State to review the benefit cap levels once in each Parliament.Households receiving disability benefits and/or entitled to carer benefits are exempt to ensure the most vulnerable are supported.

Food Banks

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she will place a copy of her Department’s evidence-based review of foodbank use in the House of Commons Library.

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 June 2021 to Question 16143 on Food Banks, when she will publish her Department’s review of the drivers of foodbank demand.

David Rutley: The Department reallocated resources to prioritise work to help the COVID-19 effort. This caused delays to some work, including this literature review. The review summarises publicly available information and does not contain any new research carried out by the Department.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department collects data on the number of claims reviewed by the Risk Review Team that have been closed as a result of fraudulent activity.

David Rutley: The data is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate costs.

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims have been closed by the Risk Review Team as a result of fraudulent activity as of 18 February 2022.

David Rutley: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what process the Risk Review team has put in place to work with local authorities who are assisting individuals who have had their benefits suspended under the risk review process.

David Rutley: The Department engages with a wide range of external organisations, including employers, partners, representatives and stakeholders, for varying reasons.The Risk Review Team will engage with Local Authorities if they have a query regarding a claimant they are supporting. We can share information relating to alternative payment arrangements with all Local Authorities across the UK when acting in a welfare capacity. Claimant consent is, however, required for the initial referral.

Universal Credit: Habitual Residence Test

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of universal credit claims that were initially found to have failed the habitual residence test had those decisions overturned at (a) Mandatory Reconsideration Stage, (b) First-Tier Tribunal, and (c) prior to a Tribunal hearing but having submitted a request to open an appeal.

David Rutley: Detailed information on Universal Credit Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) is available from Feb-19 onwards. Percentage as a proportion of claimants with a failed HRTRequested an MR after failed HRT7Decision changed at MR2Appeal lapsed before tribunalless than 1Appeal overturned original decision at tribunalless than 1GB only An overturned appeal is where the DWP decision is revised in favour of the customer at a tribunal hearing. This information is based on HRT (Habitual Residence Test) decisions from Feb 2019 to June 2021, for Great Britain only, and MR and appeals decisions to the end of September 2021. The figures do not include MRs or appeals made about other aspects of these UC claims. A lapsed appeal is where DWP changed the decision, in the customer’s favour, after an appeal was lodged, but before it was heard at a tribunal hearing. A number of appeals lodged concerning an HRT decision during this time have not yet been heard by a tribunal, so these figures may rise slightly. In addition, while most appeals are lodged within a month of the MR decision, it is possible for appeals to be lodged with good reason beyond this time.

Universal Credit: Private Rented Housing

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on the number of households in the private rented sector in receipt of universal credit with the housing element in payment; how many and what proportion of those households have rents which exceed the local housing allowance (LHA); and what the median average gap is between the rent and the LHA for those households where rent exceeds the LHA.

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on the number of households in the private rented sector in receipt of universal credit with the housing element in payment; how many and what proportion of those households have rents which exceed the local housing allowance (LHA); and what the median average gap is between the rent and the LHA for those households where rent exceeds the LHA, for each local authority area in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) Wales for the most recent period for which data is available.

David Rutley: The information requested is in the attachment. The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) determines the maximum financial support available for renters in the private rented sector who are in receipt of housing benefit or the housing element of universal credit, but are not intended to meet all rents in all areas. In April 2020, we increased LHA rates to the 30th percentile of local rents, costing nearly £1 billion and providing 1.5 million claimants with around £600 more housing support in 2020/21 than they would otherwise have received. LHA rates have been maintained at their increased levels in 2021/22 and will remain at those levels for 2022/23 rather than reverting back to previous rates which were less generous. For those who require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available. Since 2011 we have provided almost over £1.5 billion in DHPs to local authorities for households who need additional support with their housing costs.PQs 122576 and 122578 (xlsx, 41.7KB)

Pension Credit

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there has been an increase in the uptake of Pension Credit in each year since 2010.

Guy Opperman: The estimated Pension Credit take up caseloads since 2010 are available in the “Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up” publication which can be found on the statistics section of gov.uk. The latest publication relates to the financial year 2019 to 2020. Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Pension Credit

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much has been spent on promotion campaigns to encourage the take up of Pension Credit in each year since 2010.

Guy Opperman: It is not feasible to undertake such an assessment. The Department has undertaken a range of actions to raise awareness of Pension Credit, including using proactive press activity and social media posts, the annual uprating mailing to over 11 million pensioners in Great Britain and our work with stakeholders.

Universal Credit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many single claims for universal credit were suspended while a new joint claim was processed and paid in the most recent 12 months for which data is available.

David Rutley: There is no requirement for a claim to be suspended as a result of such a change of circumstance. When a single claimant becomes part of a couple, they form a benefit unit with their new partner. Their single claim becomes a joint claim and, as a result, the claim continues with a partner being added to the household, without the need for a new claim.

Social Security Benefits: Uprating

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on the incomes of households in receipt of universal credit.

David Rutley: The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation in the year to September. All benefit up-rating since April 1987 has been based on the increase in the relevant price inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September. The Government is providing £12 billion of support with the cost of living, with help targeted at working families, low-income households and the most vulnerable. A further £9 billion has been announced to protect against the impact of rising global energy prices.

Social Security Benefits: Uprating

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on levels of child poverty in Arfon constituency.

David Rutley: No such assessment has been made. The Government is up-rating benefits in line with inflation. The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions with reference to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). All benefit up-rating since April 1987 has been based on the increase in the relevant price inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September. The relevant benefits are increasing by 3.1% from April. The latest statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, covering the six years, 2014/15 to 2019/20, can be found in the annual publication: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab). This Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty. Our approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment – particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.

Universal Credit

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the cumulative impact on the living standards of households in receipt of universal credit of (a) not up-rating benefits in line with inflation, (b) the removal of the temporary £20 uplift to universal credit and (c) rising living costs.

David Rutley: No assessment of the cumulative impact of these measures has been made. The Government is uprating Universal Credit in line with inflation. The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions with reference to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). All benefit up-rating since April 1987 has been based on the increase in the relevant price inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September. The relevant benefits are increasing by 3.1% from April. The Government is providing £12 billion of support to ease cost of living pressures, with help targeted at working families, low-income households and the most vulnerable. A further £9 billion has been announced to protect against the impact of rising global energy prices. Since 2010, the Government has regularly published cumulative analysis of the impacts of its tax, welfare and public spending policies on households. The most recent assessment was published at Budget 2021. It showed that, in 2021/22, the poorest 60% of households will receive more in public spending than they contribute in tax. And households in the lowest income decile will receive more than £4 in public spending for every £1 they pay in tax on average.

Universal Credit

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the cumulative impact on the living standards of households in receipt of universal credit of (a) not up-rating benefits in line with inflation, (b) the end to the £20 weekly uplift to universal credit and (c) the rise in living costs.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the cumulative impact on the living standards of households in receipt of universal credit of (a) not up-rating benefits in line with inflation, (b) the end to the £20 weekly uplift to universal credit and (c) the rise in living costs.

David Rutley: No assessment of the cumulative impact of these measures has been made. The Government is uprating Universal Credit in line with inflation. The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions with reference to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). All benefit up-rating since April 1987 has been based on the increase in the relevant price inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September. The relevant benefits are increasing by 3.1% from April. The Government is providing £12 billion of support to ease cost of living pressures, with help targeted at working families, low-income households and the most vulnerable. A further £9 billion has been announced to protect against the impact of rising global energy prices. Since 2010 the Government has regularly published cumulative analysis of the impacts of its tax, welfare and public spending policies on households. The most recent assessment was published at Budget 2021. It showed that, in 2021/22, the poorest 60% of households will receive more in public spending than they contribute in tax. And households in the lowest income decile will receive more than £4 in public spending for every £1 they pay in tax on average.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the last submission of evidence to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's investigation into the communication of changes to women's State Pension age was made by her Department.

Guy Opperman: The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has not completed their 3-stage investigation. It would not be appropriate to comment whilst the investigation is ongoing; and section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2022 to Question 121901 on Social Security Benefits: Disqualification, for what reasons her Department is unable to list the international studies which show that benefit systems supported by conditionality are effective at moving people into work.

Mims Davies: The Department does not maintain a list of sources used and so the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on the number of universal credit claimants who use online and phone-based services.

David Rutley: Around 98% of claims are maintained online, with the remaining 2% maintained via telephone.

Social Security Benefits: Uprating

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made on the impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on levels of child poverty in Swansea West constituency.

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on levels of child poverty in Newcastle upon Tyne East constituency.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made on the impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on levels of child poverty in Stockton North constituency.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made on the potential effect of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on levels of child poverty in Salford and Eccles constituency.

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made on the impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on levels of child poverty in Lancaster and Fleetwood.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on levels of child poverty in Liverpool, Walton constituency.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on levels of child poverty in Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport constituency.

John Nicolson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on levels of child poverty in Ochil and South Perthshire.

David Rutley: No such assessment has been made. The Government is up-rating benefits in line with inflation. The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions with reference to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). All benefit up-rating since April 1987 has been based on the increase in the relevant price inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September. The relevant benefits are increasing by 3.1% from April. The latest statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, covering the six years, 2014/15 to 2019/20, can be found in the annual publication: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab). This Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty. Our approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment – particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.

Universal Credit

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has carried out research on demand for universal credit app-based services.

David Rutley: We have conducted user research with people using the Universal Credit service and have observed both mobile and PC use of the web service. The primary user need is to be able to successfully access the service and use it to achieve their goal. We can meet this need most successfully by utilising open web standards and a “responsive” service which fits any screen size.

Social Security Benefits: Uprating

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on the incomes of households in receipt of universal credit, in the context of the end of the £20 weekly uplift.

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on the incomes of households in receipt of universal credit, in the context of the end to the £20 weekly uplift.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation and the end of the uplift to universal credit on the incomes of households in receipt of universal credit.

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on the incomes of households in receipt of universal credit, in the context of the end of the £20 weekly uplift.

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on the incomes of households in receipt of universal credit, in the context of the end to the £20 weekly uplift.

David Rutley: The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation in the year to September. All benefit up-rating since April 1987 has been based on the increase in the relevant price inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September. The Government is providing £12 billion of support with the cost of living, with help targeted at working families, low-income households and the most vulnerable. A further £9 billion has been announced to protect against the impact of rising global energy prices.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Marine Environment: North East

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what remedial steps his Department has taken on the North Sea coast since the algal bloom affecting crabs, shellfish, and pet dogs in the North East in 2021.

Victoria Prentis: Defra in partnership with Cefas and the Environment Agency continue to investigate the cause of the incident, screening over 1,000 potential chemical contaminants, sampling water, sediments and crab tissue. Currently, lines of evidence point to a harmful algal bloom. We continue to work closely with those in the affected area, monitoring the current situation and keeping them up to date with the findings of the investigation, including the results of ongoing testing. We are aware that there has been an increase in reports of vomiting and diarrhoea in dogs in the Northeast, and across England. The University of Liverpool Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET) has been investigating and found no link to the affected dogs and the incident. While it cannot definitively point to a common cause, SAVSNET does suggest this is a transmissible infection rather than contact with the beach area or sea water.

Export Health Certificates

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Export Health Certificates (a) have been issues in each of the last five years and (b) his Department has estimated will need to be issued in each year between 2022 and 2026 inclusive; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Prentis: The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) issues Export Health Certificates (EHC) for animals and products of animal origin. EHCs issued in the last four yearsYear2018201920202021Total EHCs issued87,618108,462112,660410,529 Due to APHA’s data retention period for export certification, APHA no longer holds any records for export consignments carried out during 2017.Estimated volumes based on percentage increase from previous years  (Figures rounded to nearest 1,000)Year  20222023  2024  2025  2026EHCs to be issued427,000444,000462,000480,000500,000 Percentage increase based on 4% rise from 2019-2020. 2021 data is following EU exit which shows an increase of 264%.

Fishing Catches: Nature Conservation

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the Bycatch Mitigation Initiative referenced as a policy to meet the Fisheries Act objectives under the Joint Fisheries Statement.

Victoria Prentis: Defra officials are working closely with the Devolved Administrations to finalise the UK Bycatch Mitigation Initiative (BMI). The BMI will identify policy objectives and potential actions to achieve part of the Fisheries Act’s ecosystem objective to minimise and, where possible, eliminate incidental catch of sensitive marine species. This initiative will set out a joint vision for bycatch across the UK. Each administration will be responsible for developing solutions that are tailored to local needs. Once finalised, we will publish the document in the first half of the year.

Peat

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department made an assessment of the economic impact of a horticulture peat ban on the UK horticulture industry before announcing a consultation on a 2024 ban in retail.

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what specific discussions (a) she and (b) officials in her Department have had with (i) Cabinet colleagues and (ii) officials in other Government departments on assessing the (A) feasibility and (B) impact of a 2024 horticulture peat ban date on the UK horticulture industry; and if he will publish the (1) evidential basis and (2) assessments made to reach the decision of 2024 as the date for that ban.

Rebecca Pow: Prior to publishing the consultation on ending the sale of peat and peat containing products in horticulture in England and Wales, we consulted with all relevant Government departments. During our consultation, we completed an assessment of the economic impact of the proposed measures. This assessment can be found here: Consultation Impact Assessment Ending the Retail Sale of Peat in Horticulture in England and Wales.pdf (defra.gov.uk). This impact assessment builds on over ten years of close engagement with the horticulture sector that saw the adoption of voluntary targets for the amateur sector to be peat free by 2020. Following the analysis of all consultation responses, the Government will publish a full response outlining our plans for ending the sale of peat and peat containing products in horticulture.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many badger culling licences his Department has issued since the announcement by the Government of the phased end of culling in May 2021.

Jo Churchill: All badger culling operations are licenced by Natural England. In June 2021 11 new supplementary badger culling licences were issued by Natural England. Details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-authorisation-for-supplementary-badger-control-in-2021. In September 2021 seven new intensive badger culling licences were issued by Natural England. Details can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-authorisation-for-badger-control-in-2021. No new intensive badger culling licences will be issued after 2022. Supplementary badger culling licences will be restricted to a maximum of two years. Culling will remain an option, and be licensed by Natural England, where epidemiological assessment indicates that it is needed.

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department makes of how many (a) badgers and (b) cattle have been vaccinated against Bovine TB since the Government announced the phased end of badger culling in May 2021.

Jo Churchill: The Government announced the next phase of its strategy to combat bovine tuberculosis in England, including the phasing out of badger culling, on 27 May 2021. Since then, 1,410 badgers have been vaccinated across England. Further details on the numbers of badgers vaccinated will be published on gov.uk in due course. To date, vaccination of cattle in the UK against bovine TB has been carried out only as part of research studies. The candidate cattle vaccine and skin test to detect infected animals among vaccinated animals (normally referred to as a DIVA test) are the subject of field trials led by the Animal and Plant Health Agency, which started in June 2021. These trials are aimed at securing UK marketing authorisations for the candidate cattle vaccine and DIVA skin test.

Furs: Sales

Kim Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to publish its response to the recent consultation on the fur market in the UK.

Jo Churchill: The recent call for evidence published by Defra on the fur trade in Great Britain was a key step in helping us to meet the commitment set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare to better understand the fur sector in Great Britain and gather evidence from those with an interest in it. We received around 30,000 responses from businesses, representative bodies and individuals, demonstrating the strong public interest in this area. A summary of responses setting out the results and key findings will be published soon.

Furs: Trade

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department will publish its response to the consultation on Fur market in Great Britain, which closed on 28 June 2021.

Jo Churchill: The recent call for evidence published by Defra on the fur trade in Great Britain was a key step in helping us to meet the commitment set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare to better understand the fur sector in Great Britain and gather evidence from those with an interest in it. We received around 30,000 responses from businesses, representative bodies and individuals, demonstrating the strong public interest in this area. A summary of responses setting out the results and key findings will be published soon.

Pet Travel Scheme: Ferrets

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many ferrets were imported through the Pet Travel Scheme in each year from 2012 to 2021.

Jo Churchill: The number of ferrets imported through the Pet Travel Scheme in each year from 2017 to 2021 are as follows: YearNumber of Ferrets201776520181122019101202045202160 In line with data retention the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) does not hold data prior to 2017 so previous years have not been supplied. The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. The information that we have provided is a true reflection of the information that APHA has access to. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data, as we can only rely on the information that has been input into the pets returns by a third party. For information, the number of ferrets imported in 2017 is much higher than later years. This is because 619 ferrets were imported in October 2017.

Pet Travel Scheme: Cats

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many cats were imported through the Pet Travel Scheme in each year from 2012 to 2021.

Jo Churchill: The number of cats imported through the Pet Travel Scheme in each year from 2017 to 2021 are as follows: YearNumber of Cats201726480201829570201931890202021972202128667 In line with data retention the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) does not hold data prior to 2017 so previous years have not been supplied. The data regarding the Pet Travel Scheme covers pets entering Great Britain and is based on information provided by checkers employed by approved carriers of pet animals. The information provided is a true reflection of the information that APHA has access to. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data, as we can only rely on the information that has been input into the pets returns by a third party.

Home Office

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the process for imposing fines on people for breaches of covid-19 regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: The Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) scheme was put into law in order to reduce transmission of the virus, and has been an important part of enforcement measures, which allow for quick and appropriate action to be taken against people that are not following the rules. Evidence suggests that the success of measures to date has been founded on broad public support and understanding of the need for adopting safer behaviours to reduce the spread of the virus.Police forces across the UK are operationally independent. In their engagement with the public throughout the pandemic they have used the 4Es approach of engaging, explaining and encouraging individuals to comply, before moving on to enforcement action if required. This approach has meant we have not relied on enforcement as the primary driver of behaviour, but as complementary to other measures. This has also included clearer and more consistent communications from Government on the rules.

Hate Crime: Females

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to classify misogyny as a hate crime.

Rachel Maclean: There are no plans to classify misogyny as a hate crime.The Law Commission has been clear that making misogyny a hate crime could make the prosecution of sexual offences more difficult and hinder efforts to tackle hate crime more broadly. Rape Crisis, the largest sexual violence support organisation in England and Wales, has also been clear that it does not support adding sex/gender to hate crime legislation.Alternative options to criminalise misogyny were also found to have little material impact and would not address the most harmful crimes affecting women and girls.

Drugs: Organised Crime

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people with a county lines flag in the National Referral Mechanism system (a) go on to commit a serious criminal offence and (b) are subsequently charged with an offence.

Rachel Maclean: In 2020, 1,544 referrals were flagged as county lines referrals, accounting for 15% of referrals received and an increase of 31% from 2019. The majority (81%; 1,247) of these referrals were for male children. Although the Home Office does hold data on potential victims referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) with a county lines flag, this is not currently linked to data on offences/ offenders.The UK is committed to ensuring victims of modern slavery are identified quickly and provided with the support they require to start to rebuild their lives. More potential victims are being identified and protected than ever before. NRM referrals more than doubled between 2017 and 2020 from 5,135 to 10,613. There is more information on referrals available at: Modern Slavery: National Referral Mechanism and Duty to Notify statistics UK, end of year summary 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)This Government is determined to crack down on the county lines gangs who are exploiting our children and have a devastating impact on our communities. Since November 2019, through our County Lines Programme, police have closed more than 1,500 lines, made over 7,400 arrests and engaged with more than 4,000 people through safeguarding interventions.Given the increase in county lines activity, the Home Office has significantly increased investment in specialist support for county lines victims this year. This financial year we are investing up to £1m to provide specialist support to under 25s from London, the West Midlands and Merseyside who are criminally exploited through county lines, to help them safely reduce and exit their involvement.In addition, this financial year we are continuing to fund Missing People’s SafeCall service. This national service provides specialist advice and support to young people and a range of support options to their parents/carers who are affected by county lines exploitation.

Drugs: Organised Crime

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 22 of From Harm to Hope: a 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives, published in December 2021, how many and what proportion of the 4,000 vulnerable people safeguarded through the County Lines Programme are children who (a) are in care, (b) are on the register, (c) have a protection order, (d) are at risk, (e) already had a referral through the NRM and (f) have previously been through the NRM.

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 22 of From Harm to Hope: a 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives published in December 2021 and the Government's statement that it has closed down more than 1,500 deal lines, how the Government defines a deal line being closed down; and if she will publish a breakdown of the geographical locations of the lines which that have been closed down.

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 28 July 2021 to Question 36809 and with reference to page 22 of From Harm to Hope: a 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives published in December 2021, what evidence his Department holds that close down deal lines have not been re-opened.

Rachel Maclean: Since November 2019, through our County Lines Programme, police have closed more than 1,500 lines, made over 7,400 arrests and engaged with more than 4,000 people through safeguarding interventions. The National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC) determines a line to be closed where there is evidence that the controlling line holder is no longer capable of distributing drugs using that telephone number.Information on geographic breakdown of lines is held by NCLCC and not publicly available due to operational sensitivities, however NCLCC do publish a strategic assessment of county lines which sets out the latest threat. The latest NCLCC strategic assessment (published in April 2021) shows a reduction in the total number of potentially active lines per month, with numbers reported to have fallen between 800-1,100 in 2019/20 to 600 in 2020/21. The reduction in potentially active lines is believed to be linked to a change in reporting and enhanced operational activity, the latter of which indicates the positive outcomes from the investment in addressing the county lines drug supply model.We do not centrally collect the information requested on vulnerable people safeguarded through the Programme.

Asylum and Undocumented Migrants

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there were earned regularisation processing of distinct groups of undocumented people in each of the last five years; and what assessment her Department has made of the trends in the numbers of asylum applications in following years.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships: Telephone Services

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending registration of deaths by telephone following the expiration of the Coronavirus Act 2020.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Undocumented Migrants: English Channel

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the evidential basis is for her assessment that 70 per cent of those crossing the channel in small boats are economic migrants.

Tom Pursglove: As set out in our New Plan for Immigration policy statement, 74% of people arriving in the UK on small boats in 2020 were aged between 18 – 39 and 87% of all small boats arrivals were male.Those seeking protection should claim asylum in the first safe country, and given the fact there is no need for migrants to cross the Channel using small boats in order to gain protection, it is not unreasonable to assume that a proportion of these arrivals are economically motivated.

Mitie: Harassment

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has she made of the implications for her Department's policy of Mitie’s response to allegations of racist, misogynistic and xenophobic conduct among Mitie staff.

Tom Pursglove: We expect all suppliers operating on behalf of the Home Office to treat detained individuals with decency and respect, behaving in line with the high standards outlined in the Detention Centre Rules, published operating standards and service delivery contracts.The Government has made clear that the behaviour displayed by a small number of Mitie Care & Custody staff was utterly unacceptable, and Mitie Care & Custody and the Home Office have responded swiftly and robustly to these allegations.Mitie Care & Custody have commenced an investigation and have suspended those about whom complaints have been made, pending the investigation outcome. In parallel, the Home Office has commissioned the Home Office Professional Standards Unit to investigate the allegations relating to the behaviour and conduct of Mitie staff.

Slavery: Victims

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how long the average waiting period is for a conclusive grounds judgment through the National Referral Mechanism.

Rachel Maclean: The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics regarding the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). These include the average time taken to make a Conclusive Grounds Decision. The latest published NRM statistics can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/modern-slavery-national-referral-mechanism-and-duty-to-notify-statistics-uk-quarter-3-2021-july-to-september

Drugs: Driving Under Influence

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the (a) extent of delays in lab testing blood samples as a means of evidencing drug driving offences and (b) impact of that matter on charging rates.

Rachel Maclean: We are aware from engagement with the National Police Chief’s Council that between January and September 2021, there were some delays in drug drive testing due to Covid related pressures on forensic services. Toxicology supply has now significantly increased, and all backlogs have been cleared. Some cases could not be charged during this period, but none of these involved serious injury or death.

Stalking

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to ensure that all police forces in England are adequately able to (a) identify the need for and (b) appropriately implement stalking protection orders.

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a single point of contact within local police forces for victims of stalking.

Rachel Maclean: Stalking is a terrible crime that can have a devastating impact on victims’ lives. This Government is committed to protecting and supporting victims and is determined to do everything we can to stop perpetrators at the earliest opportunity.Each of the 43 police forces in England and Wales has at least one named single point of contact for stalking and harassment, who can advise officers on stalking cases. The role includes acting as the force link to specialist support services dealing with victims of stalking and offering support to ensure an investigation is being carried out appropriately.Stalking Protection Orders were introduced in January 2020 to provide enable intervention to address stalking behaviours before they become deep-rooted or escalate. Upon their introduction the Government published statutory guidance for the police, developed in consultation with the police and others, about the orders, which includes material on identifying the need for and appropriately implementing them.The Home Office-led a multi-agency project for the implementation of SPOs before their introduction – this included the development of operational guidance materials and standard forms and documents for the police, as developed by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing.My officials have since been continuing to work closely with the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s stalking lead to ensure that these orders are being used appropriately. This has included establishing actions in response to points raised by the police and others, such as the establishment of a process for the sharing of best practice between forces. In October 2021 I also wrote to all Chief Constables whose forces applied for fewer SPOs than might have been expected, to encourage them to always consider applying for a Stalking Protection Order in stalking cases.

Protection

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help improve safeguarding within faith communities.

Rachel Maclean: The Government is committed to doing all that we can to ensure children and vulnerable groups are effectively safeguarded. As such, Home Office collaborates closely with other government departments - including Department for Education (DfE), Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) - to provide leadership and promote effective practice around safeguarding, including across faith communities.The statutory safeguarding regime applies broadly, underpinned by Working Together to Safeguard Children (2018), the statutory guidance on inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Referrals should be made by any organisation where there are concerns about a child or young person being at risk of abuse or harm.DfE has also published a safeguarding code of practice for out-of-school settings, including religious supplementary schools, which brings together existing legal requirements and best practice into a single location.In addition, DLUHC currently fund the organisation Strengthening Faith Institutions who help to create stronger, healthier, integrated and accessible places of worship across England, by delivering safeguarding training in faith institutions. SFI aim to build the capacity of grassroots organisations by delivering crucial expertise alongside local initiatives. They provide health checks for places of worship, alongside training courses to empower women, faith leaders, community leaders and young leaders from minority ethnic backgrounds.Finally, the Government welcomes the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s report into child protection into religious organisations and settings, published in September 2021, and is carefully considering its findings and recommendations.

Fire and Rescue Services: North Yorkshire

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the Fire and Rescue Service precept for North Yorkshire.

Rachel Maclean: On 7 February the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities published the Final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2022/23. The Settlement sets out a core council tax referendum principle of 2%, which means North Yorkshire FRA will be able to increase their average Band D council tax by up to 2% next year without requiring a local referendum. The referendum principles were approved by the House of Commons on 9th February.The referendum principles ensure local authorities have the flexibility to generate their own income through council tax, while protecting residents from excessive increases.

Animal Experiments: Cosmetics

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answers of 6 December 2021 to Question 76580 and 28 October 2021 to Question 59749, whether any ingredients used solely for cosmetics products are tested on animals in the UK to comply with UK REACH as of 9 February 2022; whether she has plans to allow such testing in future; and if she will make a statement.

Rachel Maclean: The Government can confirm, there has been no change to, and there is no plan to change, any of the legislation related to regulatory testing using animals in the UK.This includes, but not limited to, the Cosmetic Products Enforcement Act 2013, UK REACH (Registration, Evaluation Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), and the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act.The Government can confirm that animal testing may be legally performed, as a last resort, where no alternatives exist, where information is required under UK REACH to protect human or animal health and/or the environment. This could include ingredients for which, at the time of testing, the sole anticipated use is in cosmetic products.

Animal Experiments

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the 2020 statistics on scientific procedures on living animals, what the purpose was of the (a) 46,918 uses of sheep, ( b) 10,396 uses of horses under routine production (blood-based products) and (c) 96,737 uses of domestic fowl under routine production (other products); and what assessment she has made of the availability of opportunities to replace these with non-animal based products.

Rachel Maclean: The Home Office publishes data on the use of animals in scientific procedures annually at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-of-scientific-procedures-on-living-animals.The data collected from establishments for the production of the Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals in Great Britain does not include information which would allow a further breakdown on the purposes of the use of sheep, horses, and domestic fowl in 2020 beyond that which is provided.The Home Office Animals in Science Regulation Unit will only authorise applications where there is robust, legitimate scientific justification for the use of animals through the harm benefit analysis (HBA) process required under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.The UK’s rigorous regulatory system requires that no testing takes place if there is a validated non-animal alternative that would achieve the scientific outcomes sought. Licence proposals for research on animals for which there is no non-animal alternative must comply fully with the principles of the 3Rs: replacement, reduction and refinement.

Domestic Abuse

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to (a) tackle misogyny in society, and (b) implement measures to tackle domestic and intimate partner violence.

Rachel Maclean: Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for the Government. These crimes include rape, sexual violence, domestic abuse, stalking, ‘honour’-based abuse including female genital mutilation and forced marriage, ‘revenge port’ and ‘upskirting’. They have a profound and long-lasting impact on victims and have absolutely no place in our society.On July 21 we published our new cross-Government Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy to help ensure that women and girls are safe everywhere- at home, online and on the streets.A key new commitment in the VAWG Strategy is a multimillion-pound national communications campaign with a focus on targeting perpetrators and harmful misogynistic attitudes, educating young people about healthy relationships and ensuring victims can access support. Work is underway to launch this campaign this year.Our landmark Domestic Abuse Act, alongside a comprehensive action plan of non-legislative measures, will help tackle domestic abuse by ensuring that victims have the confidence to come forward and report their experience, safe in the knowledge that the justice system and other agencies will do everything they can both to protect and support them and pursue the abuser. We have already begun to implement the Act and will continue to do so across criminal justice systems and agencies later this year.In the coming months we will also publish a strategy dedicated to tackling domestic abuse, going beyond the implementation of the Act. This Domestic Abuse Strategy complements the VAWG Strategy and will seek to transform the whole of society’s response to prevent offending, support victims, pursue perpetrators and strengthen the systems processes in place needed to deliver these goals.The Law Commission’s review of hate crime laws was commissioned by the Government in 2018. This review examined the coverage and approach of existing hate crime legislation, including consideration of whether other protected characteristics, including sex/gender, should be included. The Law Commission published its final recommendations on 7 December.We are grateful to the Law Commission for the detailed consideration it has given to its review. The Government will consider its proposals carefully and respond to the recommendations in due course.

10 Downing Street

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had any discussions with the Metropolitan Police in relation to Operation Hillman.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Secretary has regular meetings with serving London Metropolitan Commissioners to discuss matters of strategic interest as part of her duties under her departmental portfolio. However, the Metropolitan Police Service - in common with other police forces - are operationally independent of Government and free from political interference.As a result, any decision to issue Fixed Penalty Notices for alleged breaches following the conclusion of Operation Hillman will be for the Metropolitan Police to determine.

Hemp: Licensing

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many current licences there are for growing Hemp in the UK.

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many current licences for growing hemp in the UK are in relation to the production of medical cannabis.

Kit Malthouse: The cannabis plant can be grown for the production of cannabis-based medicinal products and these would be authorised by Home Office controlled drugs licences which could include other controlled drugs depending on the nature of the pharmaceutical manufacturing taking place on any given site.There are no licences for growing industrial hemp for the production of medicinal cannabis. This is because Home Office Industrial Hemp licences are only granted for the non-controlled parts of the plant (seeds and fibre/stalk) and these materials would not be used to produce cannabis-based products for medicinal use.There are currently 110 extant licences to cultivate low THC cannabis (Industrial Hemp) in the UK. The licences are generally issued for a validity period of three growing seasons and this number therefore will include licences issued in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Asylum: Interviews

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many specialist decision-making units are operational in her Department; how many decisions they have made since their introduction; and what their turnaround rate is in comparison to the normal decision making route.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office currently have several specialist decision-making units, including but not limited to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and older claims.We are unable to report how many decisions the specialist decision making units have made since their introduction as this information is not recorded and held in a reportable format, however we can provide the number of asylum decisions, broken down by nationality, and can be found at, Asy_D02 of the published immigration statistics:List of tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)The decision-making route remains the same for all asylum applications however we have created additional hubs to provide a greater ownership, improved consistency, and management of the cohorts to ensure quick decisions can be made.

Offensive Weapons

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring into force the offence of threatening with an offensive weapon etc in a private place as provided for by section 52 of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019.

Kit Malthouse: The Offensive Weapons Act 2019 is part of our broader strategy and programme of work to tackle serious violence, giving the police and other agencies more powers to tackle the use of knives, acids and firearms in serious violence.Commencement of the legislation was paused due to Covid-19, to avoid placing additional burdens on the police and the retail and delivery sectors who will need to make changes to comply with the legislation.Some measures provided for by the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 came in to force on 14 July 2021 and we intend to commence the remaining measures, including those in section 52 of the Act, in April 2022.

Firearms: Licensing

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps are taken to assess whether someone is fit to hold a firearms licence.

Kit Malthouse: Police forces are responsible for issuing firearm and shotgun certificates and a certificate will only be granted after the application has been carefully assessed and a number of checks completed. These include background checks into the applicant’s suitability and their medical fitness.New statutory guidance to police on firearms licensing was introduced on 1 November 2021 which will help to ensure greater consistency in firearms licensing. The statutory guidance brought in a new requirement that police must receive medical information about the applicant before a firearm certificate can be granted, and it makes it clear that firearms applicants can be subject to a wide range of checks, including social media, finance or other checks, depending on the individual case.The police have a legal duty to consider the statutory guidance when assessing firearms applications.

Firearms: Licensing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many gun certificates have been issued and are active for pump action (a) shotguns and (b) rifles in England as of 18 February 2022.

Kit Malthouse: The information requested is not collated as part of the annual statistical publication.However, based on management information, as at 18 February 2022, there were 23,955 current certificates for pump-action shotguns and 1,918 current certificates for pump-action rifles on issue in England.This data is not quality assured to the standards of the annual statistical publication.

Knives: Crime

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has undertaken a recent assessment of the (a) impact of amnesty bins on helping to prevent knife crime and (b) potential merits of increasing the number of those bins in the London Borough of Havering.

Kit Malthouse: The deployment of knife amnesty bins is a decision for local police forces.The Government continues to encourage police forces to undertake a series of coordinated national weeks of action to tackle knife crime under Operation Sceptre. The operation includes targeted stop and searches, weapon sweeps of hotspot areas, surrender of knives, including through amnesty bins, test purchases of knives from retailers, and educational events.The latest phase of the operation took place between 15 to 21 November 2021.Nationally officers seized 936 knives and 8703 were either surrendered or found in sweeps.

Crime: CCTV and Lighting

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of (a) street lighting and (b) CCTV cameras in areas with a high level of crime.

Kit Malthouse: The Government recognises that improved street lighting and CCTV can make a real difference in cutting crime and helping to deliver the safer streets the public wants.That is why we established the Safer Streets Fund (SSF) to support local initiatives designed to reduce crime in areas disproportionately and persistently impacted and prevent it from happening in the first place. We have run three rounds of the SSF, investing £70 million across England and Wales, and have announced there will be £50 million of Government funding for the SSF for each of the next three years.

10 Downing Street

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Metropolitan Police has shared any information with her Department regarding Operation Hillman.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Secretary has regular meetings with serving London Metropolitan Commissioners to discuss matters of strategic interest as part of her duties under her departmental portfolio.However, the Metropolitan Police Service - in common with other police forces - are operationally independent of Government and free from political interference. As a result, any decision to issue Fixed Penalty Notices for alleged breaches following the conclusion of Operation Hillman will be for the Metropolitan Police to determine.

Rape: Prosecutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many allegations of rape were recorded in 2020, and how many of those cases resulted in, within one year of recording, a (a) reference to the CPS, (b) charge or summons, (c) completed prosecution and (d) conviction, including guilty pleas.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of the 55,696 offences of rape recorded by the police in 2020-21 have resulted in (a) charges and (b) completed prosecutions as of 22 February 2022; and how many of those prosecutions were completed within 365 days of the offence.

Rachel Maclean: In June 2021 the Government published its End to End Rape Review Report and Action Plan. During that review, we took a hard and honest look at how the entire criminal justice system deals with rape and in too many instances it simply had not been good enough.The Action Plan outlined a robust programme of work to achieve a significant improvement, and we are committed to delivering on the actions in order to bring this about.This includes the publication on a quarterly basis of scorecards to shine a light on the performance of the criminal justice system and give greater transparency.Further information on recorded rape offences, including time to charge and measures from the CPS and Ministry of Justice, can be found in the Criminal Justice Scorecard for recorded adult rape offences:CJS scorecard - recorded adult rape offences - Justice data

Security: Licensing

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Security Industry Authority (SIA) on the recent implementation of mandatory training and the (a) associated costs and (b) availability of that training for applicants when renewing SIA licences.

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the accessibility of training providers in Scotland for the Security Industry Authority's mandatory training.

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the communication of changes regarding mandatory training to Security Industry Authority licence holders by the Security Industry Authority.

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Security Industry Authority on the potential merits of extending current licences for those who have been unable to work or been limited in working during the covid-19 pandemic, to allow more time to renew their licence in response to the recent changes to the renewal process.

Rachel Maclean: Following the changes to mandatory training for Door Supervisors and Security Guards in April and October 2021, the Security Industry Authority (SIA) confirmed there continues to be record high numbers of licence holders, indicating a healthy throughput of labour into the private security industry.To prepare for the introduction of these changes, the SIA worked closely with the industry to develop the new training requirements, following a public consultation with a wide variety of stakeholders over a period of years.In recognition of the impact of Covid-19, the SIA delayed introducing the changes to allow the industry and training providers more time to prepare for the changes.The SIA is responsible for ensuring that all licence holders are ‘fit and proper’ persons and have the required skillset and level of training suitable for their chosen sector, via checks made upon application. It would not therefore be appropriate on public safety grounds, to extend licences, without those licence holders being subject to the mandatory checks and training required at application and renewal.The SIA works closely with the private security industry and with training providers to develop flexible and accessible licence-linked training for all current and prospective licence-holders across the UK. However, the SIA does not have the powers to deliver the training nor to determine the costs, scheduling, and availability of the courses being offered, this is the responsibility of the training providers.

Rape: Prosecutions

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many allegations of rape were recorded in the first three quarters of the financial year 2020-21; and how many of those cases resulted in a (a) referral to the CPS, (b) charge or summons, (c) completed prosecution and (d) conviction, including guilty pleas, within one year of recording.

Rachel Maclean: In June 2021 the Government published its End to End Rape Review Report and Action Plan. During that review, we took a hard and honest look at how the entire criminal justice system deals with rape and in too many instances it simply had not been good enough.The Action Plan outlined a robust programme of work to achieve a significant improvement, and we are committed to delivering on the actions in order to bring this about.This includes the publication on a quarterly basis of scorecards to shine a light on the performance of the criminal justice system and give greater transparency.Further information on recorded rape offences, including time to charge and measures from the CPS and Ministry of Justice, can be found in the Criminal Justice Scorecard for recorded adult rape offences:CJS scorecard - recorded adult rape offences - Justice data

Metropolitan Police

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has met any representatives of the Metropolitan Police to discuss the finding of the Independent Office for Police Conduct in relation to the behaviour of officers at Charing Cross Police Station.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Secretary was appalled to learn of the behaviour of Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers following publication of the Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) investigation report on Operation Hotton.Being a police officer is a privilege which has been abused by these officers, and standards must be raised. The Home Secretary met the MPS Commissioner to discuss her concerns about the IOPC’s findings, and expects the MPS and the Mayor of London to implement the 15 recommendations of the report as soon as practically possible.The Home Secretary has also asked the independent policing inspectorate, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), to review vetting and counter-corruption arrangements in policing across England and Wales – looking in particular at what forces are doing to identify and deal with misogynistic and predatory behaviour.This work is underway – and it is anticipated that HMICFRS will publish a report before the summer – providing part of the evidence base informing Phase 2 of the Angiolini Inquiry.

Civil Nuclear Constabulary: Ferries

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to deploy civil nuclear constabulary officers on British cross-Channel ferries.

Kit Malthouse: The Government will always take the strongest possible action to protect our national security. Our priority remains the safety and security of our citizens. A range of measures are currently being explored to further mitigate the risk of terrorism to UK citizens, which will include fully equipping law enforcement and other emergency responders to respond effectively to terrorist incidents, no matter where they occur.However, we are not able to comment on specific operational deployments.

Dogs: Animal Experiments

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to (a) reduce and (b) eliminate the need to breed dogs for veterinary medical experimentation in the UK.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the level of need for the breading of beagles at Huntingdon for use in veterinary medical experimentation.

Damian Hinds: Under the Animal (Scientific Procedures) Act (ASPA), dogs (together with cats, horses, and non-human primates) are specially protected species. This means that greater oversight is required of establishments holding these species and of projects using these species.As with any project approved under ASPA, all projects proposing to use dogs for research must be for a purpose which is permissible as stated in ASPA. Potential benefits from this research must be likely to be achieved and maximised otherwise no authorisation will be permitted.Most dogs used for research purposes are for the safety testing of potential new medicines. This is based on internationally set requirements which require testing of potential new medicines in non-rodent mammals (usually dogs or macaque monkeys) to protect human health. However, it is legal to use dogs in other research provided the project meets the requirements of ASPA and has a positive harm benefit assessment.Government policy is to actively support and fund the development and dissemination of techniques that Replace, Reduce and Refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs). This is achieved through funding UKRI who both fund the National Centre for the 3Rs and fund research through Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council into the development of alternatives.No assessment has made of the level of need for the breeding of beagles for use in science. The requirement for the level of breeding is largely determined by the level of testing required for the safety testing of medicines.

Drugs: Internet

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the illegal supply of drugs purchased on (a) the darkweb and (b) elsewhere on the internet.

Kit Malthouse: Drugs devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities. The Government is committed to driving down drugs supply in the UK through tough law enforcement against the sale of drugs online, including on the dark web.We work closely with the National Crime Agency, which in partnership with policing colleagues across the UK and internationally is mapping and targeting key offenders operating online, including the dark net markets themselves. Dedicated teams use a range of tools and techniques generally unavailable to most investigators and we make sure they have the resources and powers they need to keep our country safe.We are clear that online companies must not allow their platforms to be used to sell illegal drugs and our Online Safety Bill will force them to remove this content or face large fines, with drugs-related offences to be included as a priority offence within the bill. This will require companies to identify, mitigate and effectively manage the risk of illegal activity on user-to-user services, services that allow user generated content to be shared and search services.The Online Safety Bill is expected to be introduced to Parliament later this year.

Personation: Telecommunications and Utilities

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the number of incidents of identity theft relating to telecommunications and utility bills recorded by Action Fraud; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of legislative powers to take steps in response to such cases.

Damian Hinds: The Government is aware of the harms caused by identity theft and that criminals use false identities to commit and enable a range of offences.The Office for National Statistics publish official statistics on the number of frauds reported to Action Fraud on a quarterly basis and the latest statistics can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/crimeinenglandandwales/yearendingjune2021.However, the detailed information requested about how the fraud was committed is not held centrally. Whilst the theft of another person’s identity is often a pre-cursor to fraud, a recordable crime is committed a person’s identity is used by another individual to commit a criminal offence. Identity theft is not a separate offence in law and so it is not recorded as a distinct category.There are currently no plans to introduce a new criminal offence of identity theft as existing legislation is in place to protect people’s personal data and prosecute those that commit crimes enabled by identity theft. These include the Fraud Act 2006, the Computer Misuse Act 1990, the Identity Documents Act 2010 and the Data Protection Act 2018.We believe that the most effective way of preventing identity theft is to improve the safety and security of the identity systems we use, particularly online. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport recently published draft “rules of the road” for governing the future use of digital identities. The new trust framework, including details of how to contribute to this work can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uk-digital-identity-and-attributes-trust-framework. We continue to encourage the public to report fraud to Action fraud.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason the Shared Prosperity Fund people and skills investment priority has been delayed until 2024-25 in England; and if he will make a statement.

Neil O'Brien: We recognise that many high streets, town centres, civic events and cultural organisations have been profoundly affected by the pandemic. The UK Government has a responsibility to support people, businesses and communities across the whole of our United Kingdom. This is why the Fund is initially prioritising pride in place to aid recovery as funding ramps up. The Government recognises the role that EU structural funding plays in supporting jobs and growth, and disadvantaged people and those furthest from the labour market to access opportunities across the UK. This will continue in many areas until 2023. Each area will be required to invest a ring-fenced amount of the Fund in local Multiply interventions, an adult numeracy programme worth £559 million, which covers the people and skills investment priority. This will be managed by the Department for Education and further information on how this element of the Fund will be delivered will be set out in due course to assist with local preparations. Further investment to support people and skills will follow from 2024-25, when the funding pot reaches its full extent in this spending review period and EU funding has ended.

Levelling Up Fund: Devolution

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Answer of 21 February 2022 to Question 121697, on Levelling Up Fund: Devolution, in the context of Northern Ireland being the only devolved region of the UK to which the first round allocation was below the anticipated allocation, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the second round of funding redresses any imbalance.

Neil O'Brien: In August 2021, we provided £1,375,000 to 11 local authorities in Northern Ireland, to support the development of high-quality bids for future rounds of the Levelling Up Fund. Officials have already begun to work with a range of stakeholders to prepare them for future funding opportunities.In addition, following the launch of round two of the Fund in spring 2022, we will implement a support offer to further help applicants to develop high quality bids that will have lasting impacts for communities across GB and NI.Future rounds of the Levelling Up Fund will continue to prioritise a fair deal for all nations of the UK, meeting the commitment we set out to at least £800 million for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over the lifetime of the Fund.

Regional Planning and Development: Islands

Bob Seely: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which Minister in his Department will be responsible for the Islands Forum scheme.

Neil O'Brien: The Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will be responsible for the Islands Forum. The Forum will provide a regular means of engagement with island communities across the UK and provide the UK Government with the opportunity to better understand the unique challenges faced, as well as create space to discuss potential resolutions and shared opportunities.

Regional Planning and Development: Finance

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much levelling up funding he plans to allocate to projects in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

Neil O'Brien: The Government has allocated around £1.9 billion throughout the UK through the Levelling Up Fund, Community Renewal Fund and Community Ownership Fund, including £191 million in Scotland, £169 million in Wales and £61 million in Northern Ireland since October 2021. Over its lifetime, the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund will invest at least £800 million across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.Once launched, every place in the UK will receive a share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, recognising that even the most affluent parts of the UK contain pockets of deprivation and need support. Allocations for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will be included in the Prospectus to be published later this Spring.

Regional Planning and Development: Finance

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will commit to publishing a regular update on the allocation of levelling up funding.

Neil O'Brien: Since October 2021 the Government has allocated around £1.9 billion throughout the UK through the Levelling Up Fund, Community Renewal Fund and Community Ownership Fund.   All funding offers and allocations for these funds and others can be found on gov.uk. We will continue to do this for all future funding programmes. In the Levelling Up White Paper, we also set out our ambitious plans for using data and spatial mapping to give everyone the chance to see how this government is levelling up the country.

Standard of Living: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to ensure that York does not regress economically and socially in the context of (a) the impact of rises in the cost of living and (b) the reduction in funding to York and North Yorkshire under the Social Partnership and Levelling Up funding compared to previous EU funding.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he will take to level up areas that have been unsuccessful in bids to the Levelling Up Fund, the High Street Fund and the Social Partnership Fund and are seeing a reduction in investment.

Neil O'Brien: As set out in the Levelling Up White Paper, the Government’s central mission is to spread opportunity more equally across the country and bring left behind communities up to the level of more prosperous areas. We encourage unsuccessful applicants to apply for the second round of funding from the Levelling Up Fund, which will open in Spring. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will also be launched in Spring. UK wide, funding for the UKSPF will ramp up to £1.5 billion per year by March 2025 and upholds the UK government’s commitment to match EU structural fund receipts for each nation.

Levelling Up Fund: Bolton

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason Bolton's Levelling Up Fund bid for the redevelopment of the Crompton Place was unsuccessful; and what steps they need to take to ensure a greater chance of success in the next round.

Neil O'Brien: The Crompton Place bid was not submitted to the Department by the application deadline of June 18 2021. As set out in the published Levelling Up Fund Technical Note, all bids received after this deadline were not assessed, and could not therefore be considered further.As a gesture of goodwill, officials conducted a review of the application and provided feedback to Bolton Council on 21 January 2022 drawing out the strengths of the bid and areas for improvement.Further funding opportunities will be available through the second round of the Levelling Up Fund, which is due to open in Spring 2022. Further details will be made available for this in due course.

Regional Planning and Development

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of devolving specific powers or funds to county councils outside of a formal devolution deal, where requested, as part of the Government's levelling up agenda.

Neil O'Brien: Devolving specific powers or funds to an individual local authority is dependent on agreeing a devolution deal with government, informed by the devolution framework published in the Levelling Up White Paper. As well as those which establish new institutions, all devolution deals which establish new institutions or confer new powers will be subject to Parliamentary approval to the necessary secondary legislation in order to be implemented; and deal implementation will need to be prioritised and scheduled accordingly.

Regional Planning and Development

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he has taken to (a) assess and (b) take account of the level of need in local communities when determining the areas of focus in the Government's Levelling Up White Paper.

Neil O'Brien: The Levelling Up the United Kingdom White Paper provides a clear plan to level up every corner of the UK, by addressing the spatial disparities that exist within and between regions. The White Paper sets out a detailed policy programme to deliver on the 12 levelling up missions and wider levelling up objectives, particularly in those places that have been left behind.Essex will benefit from a number of policies targeted at local communities, as set out in the White Paper. For example, Basildon, Harlow and Southend-on-Sea are part of the next group of local authorities to receive expert support from the High Streets Task Force to regenerate their high streets. Essex is also one of the areas set to benefit from the greatest uplift in funding compared with 2021-22 from the updated allocation formula for the Supporting Families programme. A new Institute of Technology, specialising in delivering higher technical education, will be developed in partnership with South Essex College.Additionally, the ONS is making publicly available a Levelling Up Subnational Data Explorer aimed at local users and decision makers, making it easier for them to extract insight from a wide range of local authority level data on economic and social outcomes in their area. This will ensure future policies continue to be targeted at areas with the highest need.

Regional Planning and Development

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting (a) Levelling Up Essex and (b) other local levelling up strategies as part of his plan to level up the country.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that deprived areas of Essex will be supported through proposals in the Levelling Up White Paper.

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the Government's levelling up agenda will support local plans for levelling up including those set out in Everyone’s Essex.

Neil O'Brien: The Levelling Up White Paper sets out how we will spread opportunity more equally across all parts of the UK, including Essex. The government’s plan is underpinned by 12 ambitious missions that will serve as an anchor for policy across government, as well as catalysing innovation and action by local partners.On ‘Levelling Up Essex’, ‘Everyone’s Essex’, and other local strategies, the government recognises that levelling up is a collective endeavour. Success in closing spatial disparities across Essex will rely on input, buy-in and partnership with local stakeholders.The White Paper highlights how Essex is already benefiting from investments to boost living standards, spread opportunity, restore local pride and empower local leaders. These include the government’s commitment to develop a new integrated, high-tech healthcare campus to replace the ageing Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, as well as providing a new Institute of Technology at South Essex College. Basildon, Harlow and Southend-on-Sea will also receive expert support from the High Street Task Force.To date, Essex has also benefited from £19.9 million from the Levelling Up Fund to support the fishing industry at Leigh-on-Sea and to enhance the visitor offer along Southend seafront. Essex County Council, Thurrock Council and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council have also received a combined £5.6 million from the Community Renewal Fund to help support local areas to pilot imaginative new approaches, including a pilot with Harlow College to support economically inactive, unemployed and employed adults, and a project to develop the capacity of Harlow-based organisations through the Harlow Local Procurement Portal.Communities in the East of England are set to benefit from the Thames Freeport and Freeport East, and government is also backing the Thames Estuary Growth Board. Government has invested £23.7 million through the Towns Fund to regenerate Harlow and address transport connectivity challenges within the town, with a further £60.9 million from the Fund awarded to Colchester, Grays and Tilbury.Going forwards, local authorities in Essex will also be able to bid for further funding through the second round of the Levelling Up Fund and use the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to further support Levelling Up priorities in the region. Finally, the White Paper sets out for the first time a clear framework for devolution in England, supporting areas to develop devolution proposals which demonstrate effective leadership and sensible geography.

European Social Fund and UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to consult (a) organisations which deliver European Social Fund programmes, and (ii) other organisations on a prospectus for the Shared Prosperity Fund.

Neil O'Brien: The Fund’s interventions will be planned and delivered by local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales, working closely with local partners. In Northern Ireland, UK Government will have oversight of the Fund. Places will be empowered to identify and build on their own strengths and needs at a local level.Throughout the UK, access to local insight and expertise is essential for each place to identify and address need and opportunity, and respond with the right solutions for each placeThe Government has been engaging with key stakeholders on the design and priorities of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund since 2016, including holding a series of regional engagement events across the UK.Since the publication of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) Heads of Terms at Spending Review 2020, officials have engaged widely on the UKSPF, across a wide range of sectors and organisations. We will continue to engage stakeholders as we develop the full Prospectus ahead of launch further in Spring 2022.

Levelling Up Fund

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, on what date his Department intends to publish the criteria and timescale for the second round of applications to the Levelling Up Fund.

Neil O'Brien: The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport and investing in cultural and heritage assets. We will open round 2 in Spring 2022 and will share further details in due course.

EU Grants and Loans and UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will set out the allocation (a) that each nation would have received through European Structural Funds in the event that the UK had remained in the EU and (b) that each national will receive through the Shared Prosperity Fund in each of the next three years.

Neil O'Brien: UK-wide, funding for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will ramp up to £1.5 billion per year by March 2025. Alongside commitments to support regional finance funds across the UK via the British Business Bank, this upholds the UK government’s commitment to match EU structural fund receipts for each nation.All areas of the UK will be receiving an allocation from the Fund via a funding formula rather than a competition. This recognises that even the most affluent parts of the UK contain pockets of deprivation and need support.The Government will publish a full Prospectus with further detail on the fund later in Spring.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he plans to take to fulfil the commitment set out in the Shared Prosperity Fund pre-launch guidance to maintain flexibility to fund voluntary sector organisations delivering locally important people and skills provision where this is at risk due to the tail off of EU funds.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the commitment in the Shared Prosperity Fund pre-launch guidance to maintain flexibility to fund voluntary sector organisations delivering locally important people and skills provision, where this is at risk due to the tail off of EU funds, what funding his Department has allocated to fulfil that commitment; and over what period.

Neil O'Brien: In England, the Fund will focus on communities and place and local business interventions to boost pride in place in 2022-23 and 2023-24, alongside support for people through the Multiply adult numeracy programme. In addition, we will maintain the flexibility to fund voluntary sector organisations delivering locally important people and skills provision, where this is at risk due to the tail off of EU funds. Further investment to support people and skills will follow from 2024-25, when the funding pot reaches its full extent.The Government will publish a full Prospectus with further detail on the fund later in Spring.

Buildings: Insulation

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department has taken to ensure there is a supply of qualified builders and engineers to undertake cladding remediation works.

Stuart Andrew: Remediation of buildings with unsafe cladding must be carried out by professionals with appropriate competence and experience, and anyone applying for public funds is required to demonstrate that their remediation plan meets those requirements. Demand for those professionals is high and the Government is working with industry to increase the supply of trained professionals We are supporting industry-led work to raise competence standards for safety-critical roles, including fire engineers, structural engineers, installers and fire risk assessors and provisions in the Building Safety Bill will increase competence requirements. We are supporting industry-led work to upskill professionals in those roles, including investing nearly £700k to train assessors to carry out valuations where EWS1 forms are required (over 1,000 people now enrolled in a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors course).

Buildings: Standards

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support leaseholders to ensure that buildings conform with new building standards.

Stuart Andrew: Through the Building Safety Bill, we will be ensuring that building owners of higher-risk buildings have clear accountabilities for managing building safety as Accountable Persons. Residents will have a clear voice under the new regime and will be empowered to hold their Accountable Person to account, with the ability to raise complaints for breach of accountable person duties, and escalate such complaints to the regulator.The new Building Safety Regulator will enforce the more stringent regulatory regime for higher-risk buildings and oversee the safety and performance of all buildings.The Government funds the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) to provide free and independent advice to leaseholders, including those affected by building safety issues. This aims to help them make informed decisions on next steps and engage confidently with freeholders, developers and managing agents. Advice is open to all and there is no limit on the amount of advice an individual can seek to support their chances of achieving the best possible outcome in their case.

Renters' Reform Bill (Draft)

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will commit to introducing the Renters' Reform Bill to Parliament in 2022.

Eddie Hughes: The Government remains committed to building back fairer and delivering a better deal for renters. We will publish a White Paper this spring that will set out a package of reforms to create a fairer private rented sector.We are undertaking robust and structured engagement with stakeholders to inform our plans, while also learning from the pandemic’s impact on the sector. We will provide more detail around when we will bring forward legislation in due course.

Private Rented Housing: Reform

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which groups representing private renters has he had discussions with ahead of the publication of the White Paper on renter reform in spring 2022.

Eddie Hughes: We have undertaken extensive and wide-ranging engagement with tenants and landlords, delivery partners such as local authorities as well as key stakeholders in the sector. We know that understanding tenants’ experiences of the private rented sector is vital to making sure reforms work in the long term. We have engaged with a number of groups representing private tenants including Shelter, Generation Rent, Justice for Tenants, Citizens Advice, St Mungo’s, and Crisis.

Leasehold: Property Management Companies

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he will take to protect leaseholders against sharp rises in costs from management companies running their housing scheme.

Eddie Hughes: The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service.The law is clear that service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to work or services, the work or services must be of a reasonable standard. We believe very strongly that any charges to leaseholders should be transparent and communicated effectively, and that there should be a clear route to challenge or redress if things go wrong. Leaseholders may make an application to the First-tier Tribunal to make a determination on the reasonableness of their service charges. Furthermore Section 24 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 allows leaseholders to apply to the appropriate tribunal to appoint a manager to take over management where there has been a significant failure by a previous managing agent or landlord.To help protect buyers of new homes, we are bringing forward provision for the New Homes Ombudsman scheme in the Building Safety Bill to provide dispute resolution to, and determine complaints by, buyers of new build homes against developers. The New Homes Ombudsman will help improve redress for homebuyers and the quality of new homes.

Leasehold: Reform

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is proposing to bring existing leasehold and ground rent contracts into line with his current leasehold reform plans.

Eddie Hughes: We are taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market. The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act will put an end to ground rents for most new residential leasehold properties as part of the most significant changes to property law in a generation. We understand the difficulties some existing leaseholders face with high and escalating ground rents.   Unfair practices have no place in the housing market and the Government is committed to ending them. This is why the Government asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate potential mis-selling of homes and unfair terms in the leasehold sector. The Government has welcomed the action to tackle potential mis-selling and unfair terms in the leasehold sector and wants to see homeowners who have been affected obtain the justice and redress they deserve.

Veterans: Supported Housing

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of funding available for specialist supported housing for veterans with complex needs.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the funding required to provide specialist supported housing to every veteran in the UK who needs it.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much funding was available for veteran's supported accommodation in each year since 2010.

Eddie Hughes: The Government is committed to supporting veterans who have given so much in service of our country. A refreshed Veterans Strategy Action Plan was published on 19 January.Funding for housing support services is devolved to local authorities through the Local Government Settlement. Local authorities are best placed to assess need and make decisions on what local services they provide, based on local priorities and circumstances.The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2022/23 makes available £54.1 billion for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22. This is an increase in local authority funding for 2022/23 of over 4.5% in real terms, which will ensure councils across the country have the resources they need to deliver key services.

Veterans: Supported Housing

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to support veterans with complex needs to find supported housing.

Eddie Hughes: In framing their allocation scheme, local housing authorities must ensure that reasonable preference is given to people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds, including people with complex needs such as learning disabilities, as well as those with a physical disability.In line with the Armed Forces Covenant, we changed the law in 2012 so that certain members of the armed forces community with urgent housing needs are always given additional preference (high priority) for social housing. Urgent housing need can include those who need to move because of a life threatening illness or sudden disability, families in severe overcrowding which poses a serious health hazard, and those who are homeless and require urgent re-housing as a result of violence or threats of violence.

Veterans: Housing

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what cross-boundary housing support is available for veterans in local authorities with low numbers of veterans.

Eddie Hughes: The Government is committed to ensuring veterans are provided with all the support they need to successfully adjust back into civilian life.Delivering on the Armed Forces Covenant, in 2012 we introduced regulations which ensure that serving personnel and those within 5 years of having left the forces cannot be disqualified from social housing because of a local connection or residency requirement.At the same time we changed the law to ensure that ‘additional preference’, high priority, is given to serving members of the Armed Forces suffering from a serious injury or disability, and veterans with urgent housing needs.Both provisions also apply to seriously injured and disabled Reservists and bereaved spouses of Service personnel. In June 2020 we published new statutory guidance for local authorities to further improve access to social housing for members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their families. This guidance makes clear that local authorities are expected to disapply any local connection requirement from divorced or separated spouses or civil partners of Service personnel who are required to move out of accommodation provided by the Ministry of Defence.

Homelessness: Veterans

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of local authorities that take into account the needs of veterans in their homelessness strategies.

Eddie Hughes: Our veterans play a vital role in keeping our country safe and we are committed to ensuring that they are provided with all the support they need to successfully adjust back into civilian life.Housing authorities are required to publish a Homelessness Strategy and update it at a minimum every five years. Statutory guidance is clear that when drawing up their strategies for preventing and reducing homelessness, housing authorities must consider the needs of all groups of people in their district who are homeless or likely to become homeless and may require a broader package of resettlement support, such as veterans.The Homelessness Reduction Act  2017 (HRA) was introduced to transform the culture of homelessness service delivery. Local authorities and other public bodies must work together to  prevent and relieve homelessness for people at risk, irrespective of whether they are a family or single person, the reason they are at risk, or if they have a local connection to the area.A person who is vulnerable as a result of having been a member of Her Majesty’s regular armed forces (a veteran) has a priority need for accommodation. This will include a person who was previously a member of the regular naval, military or air forces.

Housing: Veterans

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of local authorities that take into account the needs of veterans in their housing strategies.

Eddie Hughes: Local authorities must frame their allocation scheme for social housing to give additional preference to certain members of the Armed Forces community, where they fall within one or more of the reasonable preference categories and have urgent housing needs. In line with the Armed Forces Covenant we changed the law in 2012 so that those serving in the Armed Forces as well as those who have recently been discharged do not lose their qualification rights for social housing because of the requirement to move from base to base.When exercising their allocations function, local authorities must also have regard to statutory guidance (2020) which strongly encourages local authorities to take into account the needs of all serving or former Service personnel, including veterans, when framing their allocation schemes. The guidance also encourages local authorities to consider the housing needs of family members of serving or former Service personnel who may themselves have been disadvantaged by the requirements of military service.

Sleeping Rough: Veterans

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of removing the local connection test for the Armed Forces community when applying for social housing on the prevalence of veteran rough sleeping.

Eddie Hughes: The Government recognises the dedication and sacrifices made by members of the Armed Forces and we are committed to ensuring that they are provided with all the support they need to adjust successfully back into civilian life.In line with the Armed Forces Covenant, in 2012 we introduced regulations which ensure that serving personnel and those within 5 years of having left the forces cannot be disqualified from social housing because of a local connection or residency requirement. The data in England shows that the percentage of serving personnel and those leaving the forces within five years who were allocated social housing in a local authority area where they had not previously lived remained higher in 2019-20 than the percentage among the non-veteran population.Veteran homelessness is low. Data shows that for the year 2020-21, 1,730 veterans were owed a homelessness duty out of the 268,560 total households who were homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Sleeping Rough: Veterans

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the advice outlined in Improving access to social housing for members of the Armed Forces 2020 on the prevalence of veteran rough sleeping.

Eddie Hughes: The Government recognises the dedication and sacrifices made by members of the Armed Forces and we are committed to ensuring that they are provided with all the support they need to successfully adjust back into civilian life.Statutory guidance to improve access to social housing for members of the Armed Forces, veterans, and their families makes clear that seriously injured, ill or disabled Service personnel, and former members of the Armed Forces, with urgent housing needs are always given high priority for social housing.The allocation of social housing by a local council is the responsibility of the council concerned. Local authorities are best placed to assess the impact of allocations policy on local communities as these will vary, based on local priorities and circumstances.In 2018, the Government implemented the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, the most ambitious piece of legislative reform in this area in over a decade. This requires the Secretary of State for Defence to refer members of the regular Armed Forces in England to a local housing authority within 56 days if they believe they may be homeless or threatened with homelessness (with the individual’s consent).

Pensioners: Council Tax Benefits

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to promote access to support with council tax by claiming pension credit.

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to promote access to support with rent in the form of housing benefit by claiming pension credit.

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to promote access to support with mortgage interest, ground rent and service charges by claiming pension credit.

Kemi Badenoch: I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question UIN 120883 on 15 February 2022.

Antisemitism

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings from the Community Security Trust that anti-Jewish hate incidents have increased 34 per cent from 2020.

Kemi Badenoch: Any amount of antisemitism is too much and the Government will continue tackling it in all its forms. We are providing £14 million this year, and provided over £65 million to date, for the Protective Security Grant to protect Jewish schools and community buildings. We also were the first country to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism and will continue to encourage organisations and councils to take this important step to combat antisemitism in their communities.

Elections: Visual Impairment

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that partially sighted and blind people are able to easily participate in elections; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that (a) at least one large version of the ballot paper is displayed inside each polling station to assist voters who are partially-sighted and (b) a mechanism is made available to enable voters who are blind or partially-sighted to cast their vote without need for assistance from the presiding officer or a companion.

Kemi Badenoch: The changes in the Elections Bill aim to strengthen the support for all voters with disabilities in the polling station and improve the way that this support is delivered. Rather than a blanket provision, we want disabled voters to get the support that is right for them and for Returning Officers to tailor their approach to suit the needs of disabled electors in their area - including blind and partially sighted voters. The provision of a large print ballot paper will remain in law and there are no plans to change this.The Government is working with the Electoral Commission to support guidance which will provide a consistent framework for Returning Officers. This guidance will be twofold in setting out clear and thorough details of what support should be provided to disabled voters and providing practical guidance to assist Returning Officers in carrying out the new responsibilities effectively. The guidance will also be produced in partnership with the Government’s expert Accessibility of Elections Working Group, which includes representation from a number of disability charities and civil society organisations. The Commission will review the implementation of this guidance and ensure it is being implemented effectively through its performance standards used to monitor and assess how well Electoral Registration Officers and Returning Officers manage their duties.

Local Government

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will set out a future framework for the roles and responsibilities of local authorities.

Kemi Badenoch: Local government is responsible for a range of vital services for people within their areas. Statutory responsibilities are set out in numerous Acts of Parliament and many of these responsibilities have associated legal duties.The Levelling Up White Paper details the largest devolution of power from Whitehall to local leaders across England in modern times and contains a devolution framework setting out a clear menu of options for places in England that wish to unlock the benefits of devolution.We will also establish a new independent body in England focused on data, transparency, and robust evidence to enhance the Government’s understanding of place-based leadership, quality of local service delivery and organisational efficacy within local government.

Local Government Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will undertake a comprehensive review of the adequacy of the (a) current and (b) future levels of local authority funding.

Kemi Badenoch: The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2022/23 makes available an additional £3.7 billion to councils, including funding for adult social care reform. This is an increase in local authority funding for 2022/23 of over 4.5% in real terms, which will ensure councils across the country have the resources they need to deliver key services.The Government is providing around £1.6 billion additional core grant for local government in each year of the Spending Review, including funding for Family Help (formerly Supporting Families) and Cyber Resilience. By 2024/25, Core Spending Power for local authorities in England is expected to rise to around £59 billion.

Building Regulations: Emergency Exits

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of current building regulations on the height at which buildings require more than one fire escape.

Stuart Andrew: In April 2020, the Government published the workplan for the technical review of the statutory guidance to the Building Regulations with regards to fire safety (Approved Document B). This technical review includes research on the means of escape in blocks of flats. It will consider what escape route provisions are necessary to ensure residents are safe in the event of a fire and will provide a robust evidence base for us to make any policy decisions.Details of the technical review are set out here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/877365/Technical_review_of_Approved_Document_B_workplan.pdf.

Social Rented Housing: Racial Discrimination

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if the Regulator of Social Housing will introduce specific standards for dealing with complaints of racism in social housing.

Stuart Andrew: All people living in social housing must be treated with fairness and respect, and their complaints – including those of racism - must be handled effectively by registered providers.   The Regulator of Social Housing has four consumer standards governing landlord services, which landlords are required to meet. The Tenant Involvement and Empowerment Standard requires providers to treat all tenants with fairness and respect, have an approach to complaints that is clear, simple and accessible, and ensure that complaints are resolved promptly, politely and fairly.   Following the commitments made in the Charter for Social Housing Residents, we are working with the Regulator of Social Housing to create a strong, proactive consumer regulatory regime. We will give the Regulator the powers to proactively monitor and drive compliance with the consumer standards, with new tenant satisfaction measures on issues including complaints handling. The Regulator will also revise the standards to ensure they are fit for purpose.   We will introduce legislation as soon as is practicable to bring forward the new consumer regime.

Buildings: Safety

Kelly Tolhurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the responsibilities of the National House Building Council for UK building safety.

Stuart Andrew: I refer my Hon Friend to my answer to Question UIN 122751 on 21 February 2022.

Buildings: Safety

Kelly Tolhurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans the Government has to improve the quality of building safety checks nationally.

Stuart Andrew: The Building Safety Bill currently in the House of Lords marks the next step in the Government’s ongoing reforms to make sure everyone’s home is a place of safety. The Bill is part of a package of legislative changes to move things forward and make sure the problems Dame Judith Hackitt identified with the current building and fire safety regime are rectified. The package includes the measures in the Fire Safety Act 2021 and changes to the Fire Safety Order alongside the current Building Safety Bill.The new regime established through the Building Safety Bill will:Establish a national Building Safety Regulator at the heart of our reformed building regulations and fire safety system. The Regulator will make buildings safer by enforcing a stringent new regulatory regime for high-rise residential and other in scope buildings, overseeing the safety and performance of all buildings, and increasing the competence of those working across the built environment.require those responsible for buildings when they are occupied to actively manage building risks, evidencing this through a new ‘safety case’ regime. This will make sure that proportionate steps are taken to deal with building risks in high-rise buildings through prevention, control, mitigation and ongoing management.It will also give a greater voice to residents of tall buildings to air their concerns and toughen sanctions against those who threaten their safety.The Department has also taken steps to ensure that industry takes a proportionate approach in the assessment of the external walls of buildings. The government has supported the development of guidance which aims to provide risk proportionate guidance to competent assessors. This guidance (PAS 9980) provides new advice on how to assess the risk of fire via an external wall of an existing multi-storey, multi-occupied residential building. It sets out steps that can be taken to identify and assess risk factors as well as mitigation measures that might improve the risk rating of a building via a holistic and fact-based assessment of a building’s construction.

Social Rented Housing: Construction

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to introduce annual targets for local authorities on the delivery of new social housing in their local authority areas.

Stuart Andrew: It is for local authorities to identify the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require affordable housing, and reflect this in planning and other policies.The Government has given local authorities a comprehensive range of tools to enable local authorities to deliver social housing, including through their own housebuilding programmes. This includes our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme which councils can bid for, and the abolition of Housing Revenue Account (HRA) borrowing cap in 2018. Local authorities have also been given more freedom on how they can spend the money they receive from Right to Buy sales on replacement homes as well as continued access to low cost borrowing via the Public Works Loan Board. These reforms give local authorities greater flexibility to invest in new homes and the next generation of council housing.

Building Safety Fund

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish details on the eligibility of Buy to Let landlords to the Building Safety Fund for buildings both over and under 18 metres.

Stuart Andrew: Leaseholders who are buy-to-let landlords are able to benefit from funding from the Building Safety Fund for eligible remediation works on residential buildings 18 metres and above in England, subject to the relevant subsidy control requirements. Eligibility criteria for the Building Safety Fund can be found in the Building Safety Fund Prospectus at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#prospectus---outlining-eligibility-for-the-fund and specific guidance on subsidy control and declarations can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#subsidy-control-guidance-and-declaration.As set out in in the Secretary of State's statement to Parliament on Building Safety on 10 January 2022, building owners and industry should make buildings safe without passing on costs to leaseholders, and leaseholders living in their own medium rise buildings should not pay a penny to remediate historic cladding defects that are no fault of their own. We have clarified that we have no intention of excluding leaseholders who have moved out and sublet from the protections that will be in place (including those in shared ownership) for buildings below 18 metres in England. We will explore whether this support should extend to leaseholders who are buy-to-let landlords.

Social Rented Housing: Veterans

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many veterans have been allocated social housing in each year since 2010.

Stuart Andrew: Between April 2012 and March 2020, there were 70,378 new social lettings to households containing someone who has served in the UK Armed Forces. From April 2016 this includes reservists. We do not have data on Armed Forces service for lettings before April 2012. The proportion of new social lets to households containing someone who has served in the UK Armed Forces has remained between 2-3% throughout this period.

Flats: Insulation

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will include buy-to-let landlords who are leaseholders within the scope of the package announced on 10 January 2022 to ensure no leaseholders in medium rise blocks of flats have to pay for remedial action to tackle unsafe cladding and fire defects.

Stuart Andrew: As set out in the Secretary of State's statement to Parliament on Building Safety on 10 January 2022, building owners and industry should make buildings safe without passing on costs to leaseholders, and leaseholders living in their own medium rise buildings should not pay a penny to remediate historic cladding defects that are no fault of their own. We have clarified that we have no intention of excluding leaseholders who have moved out and sublet from the protections that will be in place (including those in shared ownership) for buildings below 18 metres in England. We will explore whether this support should extend to other leaseholders, such as buy-to-let landlords.

Flats: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps (a) his Department and (b) the Leasehold Advisory Service is taking to support residents affected by cladding and fire safety issues to access (i) legal advice and (ii) mental health support.

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will urgently review the remit and role of LEASE for the purposes of ensuring that it adequately supports the needs of people affected by cladding and fire safety issues.

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Leasehold Advisory Service takes to identify specialist mental health organisations that leaseholders could be signposted to.

Stuart Andrew: The Government funds the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) to provide free and independent advice to leaseholders, including those affected by building safety issues. This aims to help them make informed decisions on next steps and engage confidently with freeholders, developers and managing agents. Advice is open to all and there is no limit on the amount of advice an individual can seek to support their chances of achieving the best possible outcome in their case.LEASE give this practical legal advice through their website but also through one-to-one calls with dedicated building safety advisers, and online resources such as tailored articles, FAQs and factsheets. Calls are used to help individuals work through the issues and next steps in what can be very distressing circumstances.LEASE takes its role in supporting them very seriously and staff have received training from ‘The Samaritans’ to equip them to identify where individuals are suffering mental health issues. LEASE staff are aware of the need to take action to safeguard customers as needed and where appropriate individuals are encouraged to contact The Samaritans or their GP. All aspects of the service are kept under review to ensure funding delivers what leaseholders need.Government is working to make sure that all people, regardless of their residential situation, get the help and support they need with their mental health. Where residents of buildings with fire safety issues need mental health support, they should make contact with their GP to discuss these issues so they may be referred to mental health services as appropriate.

Cabinet Office

Coronavirus: Surveys

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people are participating in the ONS covid-19 Infection Survey; and what the rate of attrition in participation in that survey is.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the hon. Member’s Parliamentary Question of 22 February is attached. UKSA response (pdf, 113.5KB)

Prime Minister: Coronavirus

Angela Rayner: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2022 to Question 121769, on Prime Minister: Coronavirus, what guidance issued by the No 10 Facilities Management team in respect of social distancing in the workplace was in place on 15 May 2020.

Michael Ellis: The No 10 Facilities Management team oversaw practical steps to reflect the prevailing BEIS guidance on workplace arrangements, as laid out in my answer of 21 February, PQ89703.

Prime Minister: Permanent Secretaries

Angela Rayner: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what role (a) the Prime Minister and (b) the Chief of Staff will have in the permanent appointment of a Permanent Secretary and Chief Operating Officer for Downing Street.

Michael Ellis: I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Luton South on 10 February, PQ119903.

Infected Blood Compensation Framework Study

Claire Hanna: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the infected blood compensation framework report by Sir Robert Francis QC by 14 March 2022 or as soon as the Government receives it, whichever is earlier.

Michael Ellis: The study will report to the Paymaster General no later than 14 March 2022. The Government will give full consideration to Sir Robert's study - which is separate from the independent public inquiry - and the Government's response and Sir Robert's study will be published.

Treasury

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 21 February 2022 to Question 120805, on Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, for each phase of the Scheme, how many and what proportion of payments made by HMRC were made against claims for employees for whom no National Insurance number had been recorded on HMRC's Real Time Information system.

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 21 February to Question 120805, on Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, what unique identifiers, other than National Insurance numbers, were used by HMRC to ensure payments made under the Scheme were claimed against identifiable employees.

Lucy Frazer: As set out in the answer given to PQ UIN 120805, to qualify for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) employers needed a Pay As You Earn scheme and to submit a Real Time Information (RTI) return. Additionally, for claims with 100 employees or more, employers were required to provide details of the individual employees’ wages. It is not mandatory to have a National Insurance (NI) number to be employed, therefore not all employees on furlough would have a NI number attached to a claim made by their employer for CJRS. Undertaking further in-depth analysis using RTI would take significant time to execute, and undertaking the analysis requested could only be done at disproportionate cost. As a result, the Government is unable to say what proportion of payments under CJRS were in relation to employees without a NI number. HMRC designed the schemes to prevent fraud before any payments were made, through the eligibility criteria set and in the design of the claim process itself. Data and risking experts blocked suspicious claims that showed signs of criminal activity and built upfront controls into the claims process to reduce the risks of fraud and error and to ensure that employers provided the data needed to do later checks if necessary.HMRC limited the eligibility of grants to employees who already had a tax footprint. They also put in place a series of checks on claims before they were paid so that those that were highly indicative of criminal activity were blocked.

Wines: Excise Duties

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of proposed reforms to alcohol duty on the diversity, choice and quality of wines available to UK consumers.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the economic impact of proposed reforms to alcohol duty on the import of luxury wines.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of proposed reforms to alcohol duty on British wine producers.

Helen Whately: As part of the alcohol duty review, the Government has announced several reforms which aim to modernise the taxation system for wine.By moving to a duty system where all wines are taxed in reference to their alcohol content, the Government intends to incentivise innovation of lower strength wines, providing greater choice to wine consumers. In addition, the Government has announced it will equalise still and sparkling wine rates, helping to spur innovation among British sparkling wine producers. The Treasury is continuing to engage with other Government departments and interested stakeholders on these reforms. A consultation ran from 27 October 2021 to 30 January 2022, and the Treasury is now analysing the responses.Further detail about the impact of reforms on producers will be included in a tax information and impact note when the policy is final, or near final, in the usual way.

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Kate Osamor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding he plans to allocate to decarbonise homes.

Helen Whately: The recent Spending Review invested £3.9bn to decarbonise buildings. This included: £450m to drive growth in the heat pump market through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme; £338m to continue our support for heat networks; £1.4bn to decarbonise public sector buildings, and £1.8bn to support low-income households to decarbonise their homes through the Home Upgrade Grant and Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. This means that, since March 2021, the Government will have committed over £9.7bn to decarbonising buildings, of which £3bn is to install energy efficiency measures in over 500,000 homes, saving households an average of £290 per year. As set out in the Heat and Building Strategy, the Government is also implementing policies to create a market friendly regulatory framework to increase clean heat uptake. This includes setting an ambition to phase out all new fossil fuel heating from 2035 and consulting on an earlier date for high-carbon fossil fuel heated off gas grid homes.

Spirits: Imports

Ben Bradley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide data on UK import of spirits from (a) the USA, (b) France, (c) Germany and (d) other EU member states for each year between 2016 and 2021.

Helen Whately: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as a National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com). From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria. Trade data related to “spirits – beverages” is publicly available on www.uktradeinfo.com under commodity code heading 22 of the Trade Tariff. The site also contains a ‘Help’ function with information on how to extract trade data. Further assistance can also be obtained via the Customer Services team on phone number: 03000 594 250 or email: uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk

Energy Bills Rebate

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support pre-payment meter customers who do not live in council properties Band A-D will receive when the cost of energy increases in April 2022.

Mr Simon Clarke: Domestic energy customers will receive the £200 reduction on their energy bills this autumn regardless of their type of payment method. This is alongside the wider support available, such as the Warm Home Discount and Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payment. Households that are not directly eligible for the council tax rebate might be eligible for the discretionary funding administered by local authorities. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has published guidance on eligibility for the council tax rebate and the discretionary funding.

Energy Bills Rebate

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many households his Department expects will receive funding from the £155 million announced by the Government on 3 February 2022 to support vulnerable people and people on low incomes who do not pay council tax, or pay council tax for properties in bands E-H, when energy bills increase in April 2022.

Mr Simon Clarke: Local authorities will receive £144 million of discretionary funding to support households who need help with their energy bills but are not eligible for the core scheme. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has published guidance on the Discretionary Fund: local authorities have the flexibility to target additional support at those most in need.

Energy Bills Rebate

Munira Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of allowing households to opt-out of the £200 Energy Bills Rebate planned for October 2022 and redirecting those funds to support households on the lowest income.

Helen Whately: All domestic electricity customers in Great Britain will receive a £200 reduction in their electricity costs from this October. This will be delivered via energy suppliers and will be clearly identifiable as a line item on electricity bills. This will help people with the increase in energy bills by spreading the increased costs over a few years, so they are more manageable for households. In addition, eligible households in council tax bands A-D will receive a £150 Council Tax Energy Rebate. Further detail on the council tax rebate and discretionary funding will be set out shortly by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Local authorities will then confirm exactly how the rebate and discretionary funding will be administered in each area. The government is providing further support for vulnerable households, elderly and low-income people this winter through the Warm Home Discount - which is being expanded by a third to 3m people and increased to £150 - up to £300 Winter Fuel Payment and £25 per week Cold Weather Payment, which help ensure those most vulnerable are better able to heat their homes. Our £500m Household Support Fund will also help vulnerable households with the costs of essentials over the winter.

Energy Bills Rebate

Imran Hussain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether people will be exempt from repaying loans under the energy bill discount scheme as a result of their financial circumstances.

Helen Whately: All domestic electricity customers in Great Britain will receive a £200 reduction in their electricity costs from this October. This will be delivered via energy suppliers and will be clearly identifiable as a line item on electricity bills. This will help people with the increase in energy bills by spreading the increased costs over a few years, so they are more manageable for households. This will give households time for their finances to adjust rather than having to deal with the whole price increase up front, providing relief to millions of households. The energy bill reduction is not a loan - there is no interest due on it, no debt attached to it, and it will not affect recipients’ credit rating.

Energy Bills Rebate: Repayments

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether all customers will be liable to pay back £40 a year to the Government from October 2022 regardless of whether they were in receipt of the £200 loan from the Government in April 2022.

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in what way his Department will ensure that none of the individuals who do not directly receive the £200 loan from the Government to cover increasing energy bills in April are not liable to repay the £40 per year costs from October 2022.

Helen Whately: All domestic electricity customers in Great Britain will receive a £200 reduction in their electricity costs from this October. This will be delivered via energy suppliers and will be clearly identifiable as a line item on electricity bills. The energy bill reduction is not a loan – there is no interest due on it, no debt attached to it, and it will not affect recipients’ credit rating. To spread the cost of the reduction as widely as possible, all domestic energy consumers will pay a charge in future years. This will be reflected by Ofgem in the price cap for future years, with sufficient notice given to suppliers to reflect it in fixed and other tariffs. There will be cases where changes in people’s personal circumstances mean they may not directly be the recipient of the reduction, but still see increases in future bills, or vice versa. The £200 reduction will help households manage the increase in energy bills by spreading the increased costs over a few years. The reduction will give households time for their finances to adjust rather than having to deal with the whole price increase up front, providing relief to millions of households.

Energy Bills Rebate

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made provisions for people who are using old-style prepayment meters for payment of energy bills in relation to the £200 energy bill rebate.

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how customers with pre-payment meters will receive the energy bill rebate.

Helen Whately: Domestic electricity customers will receive the reduction regardless of their type of payment method. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will work closely with industry and consumer groups to ensure pre-payment customers receive the £200 reduction from October in a way that is convenient for them. BEIS will consult in the spring.

Red Diesel: Agriculture

John McNally: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to reconsider the Government's changes to the entitlement for farmers' use of red diesel, so that farmers are not required to drain tractors' tanks to refill with white diesel for a single day of ploughing competition, and the following day drain the tank of white diesel and refill with red diesel.

Helen Whately: The Chancellor confirmed at Spring Budget 2021 that the Government will remove the entitlement to use red diesel from most sectors from April 2022, other than for agriculture and a limited number of other users. This will help to ensure fairness between the different users of diesel fuels and that the tax system incentivises the development and adoption of greener alternative technologies. Agricultural vehicles will be entitled to run on rebated fuel after April 2022 for purposes relating to agriculture, horticulture, forestry and fish farming. They will also be able to use rebated fuel when cutting verges and hedges that border a road, clearing snow, gritting, and clearing or otherwise dealing with flooding. The activities accepted as falling within the definition of agriculture, horticulture and forestry are defined in HMRC Excise Notice 75. As agricultural shows and ploughing matches provide information and education that benefits agricultural purposes, the Government considers that running or participating in these activities are purposes relating to agriculture, for which rebated fuel may be used in qualifying vehicles and machines, and will be updating Excise Notice 75 accordingly. Rebated fuel can also be used to travel to and from where the vehicles or machines are to be used for these activities.

Energy Bills Rebate

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the £9 billion energy bills rebate scheme the Welsh Government will receive; and how much of that will be new funding.

Helen Whately: The UK Government recognises the pressures people are facing. Our £9.1 billion Energy Bills Rebate includes a £200 energy bill discount for households in Great Britain this Autumn. On top of this, households in England will receive a £150 Council Tax rebate from April. This is new funding and the Welsh Government will receive around £180 million through the Barnett formula as a result.

Energy: Billing

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his timetable is for publishing details on the qualification requirements for vulnerable households to be able to access the £144 million of financial support for vulnerable households announced on 3 February 2022.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has recently published guidance for Local Authorities on the administration of both the council tax rebate for households in bands A-D, and the discretionary funding.

National Insurance

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2022 to Question 120805, on Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, what recent estimate he has made of change in the (a) number and (b) proportion of UK employees who do not have a National Insurance number.

Lucy Frazer: Employees with a UK National Insurance (NI) liability must provide their employer with their NI number. Where they do not have one, they must apply for one and provide it to their employer at the earliest opportunity.There are a number of valid reasons why an employee may not provide their NI number to their employer, and in turn an employer may not include it on their return to HMRC. This includes when an employee does not know their number, has not yet obtained a number, or if they do not need one.For this reason, HMRC does not have an estimate of changes in the number or proportion of UK employees who do not have a NI number.

Self-employment Income Support Scheme

Owen Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what further steps he plans to take to support people in receipt of Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grants who are facing difficulties in paying their taxes.

Owen Thompson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) waiving or (b) reducing taxes on Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grants for people facing difficulties in paying them.

Lucy Frazer: The Government has supported UK households throughout the pandemic with nearly £400 billion of COVID support, including through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which provided over £28 billion in grants to 2.9 million individuals. The Government does not think it is right to allow SEISS recipients to alter the rate of tax paid on that income over time. When announcing the scheme on 26 March 2020, and in subsequent SEISS guidance throughout the life of the scheme, the Chancellor set out that these grants are taxable: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chancellor-outlines-new-coronavirus-support-measures-for-the-self-employed The SEISS was designed to support those whose income had dropped temporarily due to COVID-19. Like self-employed income, SEISS grant payments are subject to Income Tax and self-employed National Insurance contributions at the recipient’s rate of Income Tax in the year they were received. This ensures fairness for recipients of support across various schemes, and for the taxpayers who are funding the schemes. Taxes help to fund public services from which we all benefit, such as the NHS. The Government has implemented an unprecedented package of support for taxpayers struggling with paying tax liabilities. HMRC has scaled up its longstanding Time to Pay policy, which allows any business or individual in temporary financial difficulty to schedule their tax debts into affordable, sustainable, and tailored instalment arrangements. Anyone experiencing difficulties paying their tax bill can discuss payment options with HMRC. HMRC are committed to supporting taxpayers through difficult times and will do everything possible to help. There are further details available on GOV.UK or by calling the Self-Assessment payment helpline.

Council Tax: Rebates

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the eligibility for the £150 rebate for (a) renters who are not liable for the council tax for their property but who do pay for their energy and (b) households who move from council tax bands E to H to A to D after April 2022.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has published guidance on eligibility for the Council Tax Energy Rebate. This includes the approach to rented properties and the applicable date for determining eligibility. Households in bands E-H that are not eligible for the rebate automatically may instead be eligible for support from their local authority through the discretionary funding.

Pensioners: Council Tax

Sir Alan Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to ensure that pensioners who do not pay council tax are not excluded from the energy council tax support scheme.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Council Tax Energy Rebate will be paid in full to pensioners in England who are in households in bands A-D. This includes pensioners that pay less than £150 or do not pay council tax as a result of Local Council Tax Support. Households in higher bands might be eligible for the discretionary funding administered by local authorities if they are not eligible for the core rebate scheme. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has published guidance on eligibility and the approach to households that are exempt from council tax.

Financial Services: Internet

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding in Transparency International UK's December 2021 report that 40 per cent of the UK's electronic money institutions are red flagged for money laundering risk.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the findings of Transparency International UK's December 2021 report that 40 per cent of the UK's electronic money institutions are red flagged for money laundering risk, whether he has made an estimate of the proportion of those institutions operating in the UK that are linked to illicit Russian finance.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to introduce regulation of the UK's electronic money institutions sector.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the risk posed by illicit finance to the electronic money sector.

John Glen: The government is taking a robust and proactive approach to reducing the illicit finance risks in the electronic money (e-money) sector. E-money institutions are already subject to regulation and supervision by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 and The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. In December 2020, the government published the UK’s third National Risk Assessment (NRA) of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, which found that e-money services are at medium risk of money laundering. The NRA also noted the appeal of UK e-money institutions to money launderers looking to move illicit funds in and out of Russia and Eastern Europe. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is already taking steps to ensure firms operating in the sector have robust anti-financial crime controls, and has a number of powers at its disposal – including to request information, inspect a firm’s premises and, where necessary, to withdraw an firm’s registration – that can be used to ensure firms’ systems and controls are effective. UK law enforcement and the Financial Conduct Authority have also conducted assessments of the money laundering risks in the e-money sector and other technological enablers of money laundering. Whilst vulnerabilities remain, both have observed that e-money institutions generally have very well-developed live transaction monitoring and document verification processes.

Debts: Developing Countries

Chris Law: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of increasing levels of sovereign debt repayments on extreme poverty in developing countries.

John Glen: The UK recognises the significant debt vulnerabilities faced by many low-income countries and that high debt service levels may impact efforts to invest in measures to tackle poverty. That is why, in May 2020, the UK, together with the G20 and the Paris Club, agreed to the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). This aimed to provide eligible countries with additional fiscal space to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, freeing up resources to fund social, health and economic measures. Preliminary estimates suggest the DSSI has suspended over $12.9 billion in debt service repayments. The DSSI was a short-term tool to address immediate financing needs. To deliver a longer-term, more sustainable approach to dealing with debt vulnerabilities the UK, along with the G20, also agreed a new Common Framework for Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI. This was designed to provide more efficient, equitable and effective debt treatments that are better able to set countries on a more fiscally sustainable path, freeing up resources to spend on reaching development goals. The UK is fully committed to implementing the Common Framework in coordination with our international partners.

Banks: Newport West

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to help ensure that local bank branches in Newport West constituency remain open to enable vulnerable people to have access to cash.

John Glen: The Government recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, particularly those in vulnerable groups, and has committed to legislate to protect access to cash. Last year, the Government held an Access to Cash Consultation on proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The Government’s proposals intend to support the continued use of cash in people’s daily lives and help to enable local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they can access deposit facilities. The Government will set out next steps in due course. Following the Government’s commitment to legislate, firms are working together through the Cash Action Group to develop new initiatives to provide shared services. The Government welcomes the direction set by industry’s commitments at the end of last year and looks forward to seeing what results they deliver in protecting cash facilities for local communities across the UK. On bank branches specifically, the largest banks and building societies, including those with a presence in Wales, have been signed up to the Access to Banking Standard since 2017, which commits them to ensure that customers are well informed about branch closures, the bank’s reasons for closure and options for continued access to banking services.     Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority also sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly. Alternative options for access can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.

Money Laundering

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the extent of money laundering checks conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority on its regulated population; and whether he plans to take steps to increase capacity in that organisation.

John Glen: The FCA supervises approximately 22,000 credit and financial institutions and crypto asset service providers for anti-money laundering purposes, and uses a data-led, risk-based approach to target its activity at the areas of highest risk. The FCA’s new Modular Assessment Proactive Programme (MAPP) ensures that the largest, most systemically important firms are assessed more frequently and will enable the FCA to compare the mitigation of the risk across its supervised population. The FCA actively supervises banks and other institutions and has recently imposed a number of significant penalties, including the landmark criminal prosecution of NatWest bank that saw the bank fined £264.8 million for anti-money laundering failures. The FCA, as an operationally independent non-governmental body, is responsible for ensuring that it is resourced appropriately to discharge its responsibilities. The FCA publicly consults on its annual budget, which is funded by levies on financial services firms. Therefore, decisions regarding its capacity are the responsibility of the FCA, and it would not be appropriate for the government to comment. More broadly, the FCA is part way through a significant Transformation Programme, which is accelerating an ongoing programme of reform to make the FCA a more forward-looking, proactive regulator. Amongst other things, it aims to ensure that the FCA can make fast and effective decisions, and prioritise the right outcomes for consumers, markets and firms. The government fully supports the Transformation Programme and I discuss the FCA’s progress at my regular meetings with the FCA Chief Executive Officer.

Economic Crime

Ruth Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to (a) tackle economic crime and (b) prevent fraudulent companies from accessing public funds.

John Glen: Wider work to tackle economic crime is set out through the Economic Crime Plan. The Government is on course to deliver 49 of the 52 actions set out in the Plan. Key progress includes updating the Money Laundering Regulations to close vulnerabilities in our system and to bring new sectors in scope of the requirements; the publication of proposals for Companies House reform, which will ensure it has a larger role in combatting economic crime; and legislating for a new Economic Crime (Anti-Money Laundering) Levy, which will aim to raise around £100 million per year to help fund anti-money laundering measures. The Prime Minister announced on Thursday 24 February that we will bring forward measures on Unexplained Wealth Orders from the Economic Crime Bill to be introduced before the House rises for Easter. We will set out further detail before Easter on the range of policies to be included in the full Bill in the next session, including on reforms to Companies House and a Register of Overseas property ownership. The Prime Minister also confirmed that we will set up a new dedicated Kleptocracy cell in the National Crime Agency to target sanctions evasion and corrupt Russian assets hidden in the UK – and that means oligarchs in London will have nowhere to hide. The steps taken to prevent fraudulent companies accessing public funds depend on the nature of the public funding. Common due diligence approaches include Spotlight, the government’s online automated due-diligence tool, fraud prevention data analytics, and Credit Reference Agency due diligence services.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Arts: North Yorkshire

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent estimate she has made of the value of the York and North Yorkshire creative industry; and what estimate she has made of the potential value of that sector in the future.

Julia Lopez: In 2019, our provisional estimates show the creative industries contributed £3.4 billion to the Yorkshire and the Humber region in gross value added (GVA), 3% of all industries output in the region. The sector also supported approximately 122,000 jobs in the region, 5% of all regional employment.Looking to the future, we are developing a Creative Industries Sector Vision which will set out our ambition for the sector up to 2030. As part of this, the government recently announced £50 million of growth support for creative businesses across the country. Both the Sector Vision and £50 million support package will support the growth of creative businesses, and we are keen to encourage growth in regions across the country.

Digital Technology: North Yorkshire

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the current value of the digital creative industry in York and North Yorkshire; and what estimate she has made of the potential value of that sector in the future.

Julia Lopez: In 2019, our provisional estimates show computer games businesses contributed £25 million to the Yorkshire and The Humber region in gross value added, while audio-visual businesses output totalled £339 million. These sub-sectors boosted the creative industries contribution, which was £3.4 billion (3%) of the region’s GVA in 2019.Looking to the future, we are developing a Creative Industries Sector Vision which will set out our ambition for the sector up to 2030. As part of this, the government recently announced £50 million of growth support for creative businesses across the country. Both the Sector Vision and £50 million support package will support the growth of creative businesses, and we are keen to encourage growth in regions across the country.

Mobile Phones: Rural Areas

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the rollout of the mobile phone Shared Rural Network will be fully delivered by 2025.

Julia Lopez: The Shared Rural Network (SRN) is on track and both the government and the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) remain confident that their combined coverage is expected to be delivered to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025.

Radio Frequencies: Carbon Emissions

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the viability of the allocation of radio spectrum to the energy network operators to accelerate decarbonisation of the UK economy, following the decision of German and Republic of Ireland Regulators to enable radio spectrum allocation to facilitate the transition to net zero.

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made on the potential merits of Ofcom considering incentivising decarbonisation through the award of radio spectrum to the Energy Network Operators.

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has (a) met or (b) plans to meet with representatives of the UK energy network operators to discuss the allocation of radio spectrum in respect of decarbonisation of the UK's energy system.

Julia Lopez: This Government is committed to reaching our net zero targets. Harnessing the potential of the spectrum will be crucial to helping us do this.Ofcom is responsible for managing and authorising spectrum use and DCMS will continue to work with Ofcom on the potential allocation of spectrum to energy sector and other users so as to help us reach our net zero targets.As outlined in its Plan of Work 21/22, Ofcom is reviewing the role of spectrum in supporting the energy sector to meet government targets on carbon neutrality and manage new distribution models. Ofcom is working with energy operators and other stakeholders in the sector to understand future spectrum requirements, and closely follows the progress of other international spectrum regulators in enabling smart grids. DCMS Officials have attended multilateral meetings with BEIS officials, Ofcom, Ofgem, and industry representatives, as well as industry-led events regarding the allocation of radio spectrum to the energy network operators. DCMS officials have also met bilaterally with representatives from the Energy Networks Association (ENA) and the Joint Radio Company (JRC), a joint venture between the ENA and National Grid, to discuss the radio spectrum needs of the gas and electricity network operators. DCMS officials are in close contact with BEIS on this issue.The Government will continue to work with Ofcom and other key stakeholders to help find a suitable, sustainable spectrum solution for energy networks.

Broadband: Dorset

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking in response to the application by Openreach in January 2021 on behalf of 42 households in St Leonards, Dorset to have DCMS vouchers under the Community Fibre Partnership Scheme; and if she will make a statement.

Julia Lopez: The Community Fibre Partnership scheme (now titled the Fibre Community Partnership scheme) is an Openreach scheme for local community broadband projects. In rural areas, Openreach encourages communities to use the voucher funding provided by the government’s Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) to pay towards the cost of installing the network.As there are a number of ongoing voucher applications in St Leonards, officials in Building Digital UK (BDUK) have been unable to identify the particular project that has been raised in this question. As Fibre Community Partnership’s are Openreach products, Openreach should be able to provide information on the status of this particular project.

Gambling: Internet

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will ensure that the single customer view mechanism is (a) undertaken and (b) implemented independently of the gambling industry.

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will ensure that the results of the gambling industry project to share data being run by GAMSTOP will be published at the end of March 2022.

Chris Philp: In October 2019, the Gambling Commission called on the industry to work together to develop a single customer view which could support interventions across multiple operators to prevent harmful gambling. The Commission has since worked closely with the Information Commissioner’s Office and the industry to progress the work. The project is currently entering a pilot stage with GAMSTOP, which operates the national online self-exclusion scheme, as technical provider.The Government and the Commission will monitor the progress of the trials closely, and further information will be published in due course. The Gambling Commission’s most recent update surrounding progress and next steps can be found here.

Internet: Safety

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what her timetable is for the introduction of the Online Safety Bill to Parliament.

Chris Philp: In May we published the Online Safety Bill in draft for pre-legislative scrutiny. Pre-legislative scrutiny finished on 14 December, when the Joint Committee reported with its recommendations. The DCMS sub-Committee and the Petitions Committee have both since also published reports relating to the Bill. Our intention remains to introduce the Bill as soon as possible, subject to the parliamentary timetable.We have listened to stakeholders’ and parliamentarians’ views and have already announced several major policy changes to the Bill as a result. These include strengthening and clarifying the approach to illegal content, and widening the scope of the Bill to ensure that all pornography websites will have a duty to protect children from accessing their sites. We expect companies to take steps now to improve safety, and not wait for the legislation to come into force before acting.

Platinum Jubilee 2022: Medals

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason there is a five year service qualifying criteria for public servants working in frontline emergency service roles to receive the Queen's Platinum Jubilee medal.

Chris Philp: The five-year service qualifying criteria, which has been agreed across the government, Devolved Administrations and Crown Dependencies, has been determined on the basis of the precedent for previous commemorative Jubilee medals.

Gambling

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse each month of gambling related harm.

Chris Philp: Public Health England (PHE)’s evidence review of gambling-related harms estimated that the annual direct cost to the government associated with people who are problem gamblers was approximately £647 million per year, although it was unable to make a direct assessment of the cost of gambling harm specifically. Our Review of the Gambling Act aims to ensure that the protections in place to prevent harm are appropriate and effective for the digital age. It is looking at issues around research as part of its broad scope.

Gambling Act 2005 Review

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she has taken to progress the publication of the forthcoming Gambling Review White Paper.

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in what way her Department plans to consult the British racing industry prior to the publication of the Gambling Act Review White Paper.

Chris Philp: The Gambling Act Review is wide-ranging and aims to ensure that the regulation of gambling is fit for the digital age. We will publish a white paper setting out our conclusions and next steps in the coming months.Ministers and officials have meetings with various stakeholders to support ongoing work and policy development. There has also been a wide-ranging series of meetings to support the Gambling Act Review, including with representatives of the racing industry. Records of ministerial meetings are published quarterly and are available on GOV.UK.

Greyhound Racing

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to (a) promote and (b) help protect Greyhound racing.

Chris Philp: In January 2019 the government announced an increased funding commitment from bookmakers to support the Greyhound Board of Great Britain’s (GBGB) efforts to improve welfare, and since 2021 every member of the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) who offers bets on greyhound racing has contributed to the British Racing Greyhound Fund. The BGC represents approximately 90% of the UK’s licensed betting and gaming businesses.The Government is also aware of the impact of Covid on greyhound racing and a preliminary allocation of £1.4m in loans was made available from the Sports Survival Package to help mitigate it. Greyhound racing has also been eligible to access pan-economy support provided by the government including the business rates holiday for leisure industry businesses, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme.

National Lottery: Finance

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will publish a breakdown of income derived from the National Lottery income in each nation.

Chris Philp: Please see the answer to Written Parliamentary Question 126650.

Football: Russia

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with UEFA on changing the location of 2022 UEFA Champions League Final in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Nigel Huddleston: Russia's recent actions are a flagrant breach of its international commitments, and the government has made clear our serious concerns about the hosting of sporting events in Russia, including the Champions League Final.We are discussing these concerns with the relevant governing bodies.The international community should not allow President Putin to exploit sporting and cultural events on the world stage to legitimise his renewed illegal invasion of Ukraine.